The Pond Twins
by KeepCalmAndDon'tBlink97
Summary: Alexis Pond was Amelia Pond's identical twin sister. Alexis met The Doctor that night along with Amelia. Now it's 12 years later. The Doctor is back and Lexi and Amy Pond are all grown up. Oh how their lives are about to change... Eleven/OC; Amy/Rory
1. The Eleventh Hour: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 1: The Eleventh Hour Part 1

**A/N: Okay, so I've had this idea for a little over a week now. I know this story has sort of been written a few times before, but I wanted to put my own little twist on it. The story that initially gave me the inspiration was "Out of the Woods" by mynameisella. What if Amy had an IDENTICAL twin sister? How would've things been different? This story will mostly follow along the lines of the show from the beginning of Series 5 and onwards. I may add my own short little filler chapters here and there. :)**

Alexis Pond was lying in her bed wide awake and afraid. She turned over on her side so she could face her sister in the other bed. She could see that Amelia's eyes were closed, but she knew full well that she was not asleep. They both had been having nightmares for a long while now. They were each other's comfort when it came to having nightmares. Aunt Sharon said that none of the nightmares were real and that they would soon come to pass, but the crack in the wall was saying otherwise. Amelia and Alexis had always been afraid of the crack. It would send nightmares into their heads and prevent them from getting at least a decent night's rest. Tonight was no different.

Alexis couldn't take it anymore. She quietly slipped out of her bed and tiptoed across the floor to where her sister was. She tried to be quiet. So she whispered. "Amelia... Amelia... Come on, I know you're not asleep."

Amelia's eyes shot open and she sat straight up. She hadn't heard her sister walk across the floor. She was always sneaky like that. "Alexis. You have to stop doing that. You scared me more than the crack in the wall."

"Ha, I doubt that, but I am sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that I can't sleep." Alexis got up on the bed and sat next to her sister.

"Neither can I. I'm scared Alexis. The crack is saying all these things and I don't know what they are." Amelia laid her head and Alexis's shoulder.

"I know. I hear it too." Alexis wrapped an arm around Amelia's shoulder. "We could pray about it."

"Okay."

The sisters got off the bed and turned on the nightstand lamps. They both knelt down at the end of Alexis's bed.

"Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish," Alexis said sweetly. Amelia chimed in.

"Yes, thank you. It's Easter now though, so I hope we didn't wake you." Amelia said squeezing her eyes shut more tightly. Alexis saw this and did the same.

"But honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in our wall." Alexis said as she shot a quick glance at the crack. "Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but... we know it's not, because at night, there's voices."

"So please, please, could you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman? Or..." Amelia was cut off by a loud crash like noise coming from their backyard.

They both ran over the window to see what happened. They saw that a giant blue box had completely wrecked their shed. Big grins spread across both their faces.

"Thank you Santa." Alexis and Amelia whispered in unison. Both the twins ran and quickly grabbed their boots. Amelia put on her red ones and Alexis put on her pink ones. They ran downstairs and grabbed their coats that were hanging by the front door. Alexis eagerly opened the door and ran outside, Amelia quickly following behind.

There was soft yellow light emitting from the top of the blue box. They both could here some sort of a noise coming from inside. The box was tipped over, but they could sort of see that there was writing above the doors. They seemed to say_ 'Police Public Call Box_'. Amelia and Alexis both had confused, but intrigued looks on their faces.

All of a sudden, the doors flung open and a man popped his head out.

"Could I have an apple?' He asked looking between the two girls. "All I can think about is apples."

"Maybe you're having a craving." Alexis said looking at the strange man.

"Oh, that's new. Never had cravings before."

"Are you alright mister?" Amelia asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Just had a fall. All the way down there, right to the library." He said with an eyebrow raised. "Hell of a climb back up."

"You're soaking wet." Alexis said pointing out the obvious.

The man hopped down from the box. He wobbled a little as he spoke. "I was in the swimming pool."

"You just said you were in the library." Amelia and Alexis said at the same time.

The man looked at the girls with an eyebrow raised. "Well, so was the swimming pool. Also, am I seeing double here or what?"

"No, I don't think so. We're twins." Amelia replied. The man looked at her and nodded in understanding.

"Are you a policeman man?" Alexis asked.

The man looked back at Alexis. "Why? Did either of you call a policeman?"

"No, but you came about the crack in our wall? Santa sent you right?" Alexis asked.

"What crack?" The man then yelped and fell back on the ground in pain. Amelia and Alexis ran over to him and saw that he was actually in what looked like to be quite a lot of pain.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asked in concern. The man stood up a bit shaky, so he leaned against his box for some support.

"No, I'm fine." He said just a bit too sure of himself. "This is all perfectly norm-" He was cut off, and opened his mouth as a burst of something golden floated out of his mouth.

"Who are you?" Alexis asked with wide eyes. The man shrugged and answered her with a grin.

"Don't know yet, still cooking." He looked between the two girls. "Does it scare you?"

They both shook their heads. "Just looks a bit weird." Amelia and Alexis said in unison. The man looked at them again with the same expression he had the first time they answered at the same time.

"No, no, no. The crack in your wall, does it scare you?" The twins smiles faltered a little at the mention of the crack. The man noticed.

"Yes." Alexis answered.

The man clapped his hands together, spinning around as he did so. "Well then, no time to lose." He said happily. "Hello, I'm The Doctor. Do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." He then turned around and was immediately greeted with a face full of tree. He fell backwards, but popped right back up. He then turned back to the girls and the house.

"Are you alright?" Amelia asked with a smirk on her face.

"Early days, steering's a bit off." He said knocking one foot against the other.

"Or a lot." Alexis said under her breath.

The Doctor just smiled at them and took both of their hands as they walked into the house.

Once they were inside Amelia walked into the kitchen to grab an apple.

"If you're a doctor, then why does your box say police?" Alexis asked with curiosity. Before The Doctor could answer Amelia returned with the apple. The Doctor took it, bit into it, then very quickly spit it out onto the floor.

"That's disgusting. What is that?"

The twins shared a look and then answered again in unison. "An apple."

The Doctor then said that he wanted yogurt and Amelia then proceeded to get him yogurt. He spit that out too. It turned into this whole big thing. He never liked any of the things either twin tried to give to him. He even went as far as to throw a plate with bread on it out the front door!

Finally The Doctor had settled on something and before they knew it, all of them were sitting at the kitchen table. The Doctor was dipping some fish fingers into some custard and Alexis and Amelia were sharing a tub of ice cream.

"Funny." Alexis commented with a mouthful of ice cream when The Doctor was drinking the bowl custard and ended up with a custard mustache.

"Am I? Good. Funny's good... What are your names?" The thought of them actually having names had actually just occurred to him.

"Amelia Pond."

"Alexis Pond."

"Ah, brilliant names... Amelia and Alexis Pond, like names in a fairy tale. Are we in Scotland Amelia?"

"No. We had to move to England. It's rubbish."

"So Alexis, what about your parents?" The Doctor asked. "Are they upstairs?... Thought we would've woken them up by now."

Both the girls were quiet for a moment.

"We don't have a mum and dad." Amelia replied. It seemed that she had an easier time talking about stuff like this than her sister. "Just an aunt."

The Doctor looked between the two girls. "Then where's your aunt?"

"Out." Alexis replied quickly.

"And she left the two of you alone?" The Doctor asked a bit disbelievingly.

"We're not scared." Amelia and Alexis replied together.

"Course you're not. You're not scared of anything." The Doctor finished his custard. "Box falls out of the sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at the both of you, just sitting there. So you know what I think?... Must be hell of a scary crack in your wall."

* * *

><p>The girls were really excited. The Doctor said that he would be back in five minutes. So they were trying to hurry and pack a few of their things. They packed the essentials, like some extra clothes. Amelia made sure to grab both of their lockets. She handed Alexis her locket and they both put them around their necks. The lockets had two pictures inside. A picture of their parents and a picture of one another. Amelia had a picture of Alexis and Alexis had a picture of Amelia. It was almost impossible to tell who was who. The only difference in their appearance was their eye color. Amelia had lovely teal blue colored ones and Alexis had really pretty emerald green ones.<p>

They quickly made their way down stairs and into their back garden. They sat down on top of their suitcases and waited patiently.

_They waited and waited..._

**A/N: This was the first chapter in what I hope to make a good story. I may get the next chapter up later today or tomorrow. That is just speculation, not a promise. I hope you enjoyed it. :)**

**Please follow, favorite, and review!**


	2. The Eleventh Hour: Part 2

The Pond Twins

Chapter 2: The Eleventh Hour Part 2

**A/N: Okay, here's the second chapter. I know some people might be wondering about how River might fit into this later on, and how that might affect The Doctor and Alexis's (soon to be Lexi's) relationship. Well don't worry. I have ideas and plans for everyone. :)**

The girls had waited all night. Aunt Sharon was confused when she came home and found them asleep on their suitcases in the garden. When they woke up the next morning back in their beds, they cried. The Doctor did say that he would be back in five minutes, right? Well, little did they know, it would be a long time until they ever saw him again.

_11 years and 6 months later..._

Alexis was at home after a long day working at the local bookstore. She loved reading, so that's why she chose to work there. She also loved to write, and was in the process of getting one of her short stories published in Leadworth's literary magazine. She had called it 'Madman With A Blue Box'. Yes, that was what she actually called it. She still hadn't quite given up on her dreams of The Doctor and neither had her sister Amelia. It was quite upsetting that no one believed them.

The Pond twins grew up going to school with no friends, except for Rory and Mels of course, but they didn't really even believe in The Doctor that much. They just thought he was a story dreamt up by Amelia and Alexis. The twins were very supportive of each other whenever it came to having a good cry. It seemed as though their lives were doomed to be this mundane, boring routine that they would never be able to escape. It got so bad, that their aunt started sending them to a psychiatrist, Of course, the psychiatrist didn't believe them either. I mean, why would she? It was her job to cure people of their problems.

Anyway, Alexis was at home after a long day working at the bookstore. She was waiting for Amelia to come home. She really did love her sister more then anything, but she really didn't approve of her job as a kissogram. But hey, she was an adult. She could handle herself. Alexis decided to go into the back garden and sit on the swing. It felt like such a long time ago since she and her sister had met that strange man right there. Yet it still felt like yesterday. The shed had been replaced over 11 years ago and was starting to show age. Alexis started to tear up . She just wanted so badly to change the direction her life seemed to be heading in.

"What's wrong Alexis?" Amelia asked coming up and sitting next to Alexis. She had a concerned look on her face. Alexis hadn't heard her walk outside.

"I don't think I can take this anymore Amelia. It's like my life has become this thing that's suffocating me. I mean, don't get me wrong. I like my job. I love reading and writing, but I just wish I could live a life that's really worth living." Alexis told her sister while staring off into space.

"Yeah. It does get a bit boring doesn't it?"

"Yeah it really does. I just don't really feel like the same person I was eleven years ago... I don't really feel like an Alexis."

"You know, I feel the same way. We aren't really little Amelia and Alexis Pond anymore... So I'll tell you what. I have an idea." Amelia said grinning at her sister.

"What is it?"

"How about I go by Amy and you can go by... Lexi?" Amy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Amy and Lexi Pond... I think I like the sound of that." Lexi said with a small grin.

"Well then Lexi, let's go inside and watch a movie... How about 'Casino Royale'?"

"You know I love that movie huh?"

"Of course I do." Amy said smiling sweetly at Lexi before they walked inside to enjoy a night of sisterly bonding time.

_6 months later.._.

Again, life was still boring, but not completely unbearable. The girls were going about their normal day. Lexi was getting ready to leave the bookstore. it was Saturday afternoon, so it wasn't really busy. She knew that Amy was probably home by then. She had had a party earlier in the day 'to go to'. Aunt Sharon still didn't like Amy's job, but Lexi had made her peace with it. She would even try to defend Amy when Aunt Sharon would try and say something about it.

Lexi walked out of the bookstore and into town. She then felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. She took it out to see who was calling. It was Amy. "Hello?"

"Lexi, don't come home just yet. Some man just broke in. I knocked him out with a cricket bat and handcuffed him to the radiator."

'Oh no! Are you alright?! Is Aunt Sharon there?" Lexi asked in a panicked tone.

"Just don't come home yet. Go and grab a pizza and wait a little while. Yeah?... Oh crap, he's waking up. Gotta go." Amy hung up the phone.

Lexi thought it was probably best to listen to her sister. She would take care of it. She made her way to the pizza parlor. She walked inside to be greeted with a smiling Mrs. Lassiter.

"Alexis!' Of course everyone in town knew her. Everyone knows everyone here since this village is so small. Lexi just smiled uncomfortably. She just didn't have the heart to correct Mrs. Lassiter and tell her that she went by Lexi. I mean, she had told her before, but she insisted on calling her Alexis. She ordered a large pepperoni pizza with extra cheese.

Lexi just sat on a bar stool staring out the front window of the pizza place. She tried to occupy her time while waiting for the pizza to bake. She started to mess with her phone. She opened an app and started to play 'Fruit Ninja'. She was slashing fruit left and right when all of a sudden she heard the tv on the wall make a noise. A weird robot like vioce started coming out of it. "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated."

Chills ran up Lexi's spine. She remembered hearing "Prisoner Zero" when she was a kid. It used to terrify her to the point of insomnia. It still did seem that it scared her quite a lot. She quickly turned her head back. Maybe she thought she would see Prisoner Zero running down the street. She saw something even worse. Him, or at least what she thought was him. The Doctor! The raggedy Doctorr! How could he be here?! Was she seeing things?

Before she knew it, she ran out the door and across the road. She saw Amy shut The Doctor's tie in Mr. Hendrick's car door.

"Amy!" Lexi shouted as she was running. Amy seemed to hear her and whirled her head around. She tried to hide The Doctor from view, but Lexi just stepped around her and looked at The Doctor right in the face. He was bent down at a weird angle seeing that his tie was shut in the door. He looked up at her with a sense of wonderment.

"Alexis?"

Lexi's eyes drifted downward and she had a small frown on her face. "It's Lexi now."

"Oh come on! Not you too! Alexis Pond was a brilliant name!" The Doctor said in protest. Lexi just gave him a look that said, 'Really'.

"Yeah well, I didn't feel like the same little girl I was... TWELVE YEARS AGO!' Lexi shouted with a huff. A looked of guilt spread across his face. He shook his head.

"Look, we don't have much time! We have less than twenty minutes to save the planet from being incinerated." He said with pleading eyes.

"Come on. You didn't have time for us for the past twelve years!' Lexi said crossing her arms.

"For me it's only been 5 minutes Alexis." The Doctor said truthfully. "Everything I told the both of you all those years ago is true. I'm a time traveler. I'm real. Everything you see up in the sky is real, and if you don't let me go, everything you've ever known is over." With that, Lexi looked straight up to the sky and noticed how weird it looked.

"What the hell..." Lexi said in a whisper.

"I don't believe him." Amy said with an angry tone.

"Look, catch!" The Doctor threw an apple at Lexi. She raised one hand up and caught it instinctively. "Do either of you remember? Before the both of you took me up to your room to show me the crack in the wall, you gave me this Alexis. Turn it over." Lexi did as she was told and flipped the apple over in her hand. It had a smiley face on it. Now that she thought about it, she vaguely remembered carving the smiley face. "See? Fresh as the day you gave it to me, and you two both know it's the same one... Just believe for twenty minutes." Amy and Lexi both looked at the apple for a moment. Amy raised the car door remote and pressed the button to unlock it.

The Doctor gleefully opened the door and released his tie. He twirled around and clapped his hands together. It looked like his steering might still be a bit 'off'.

"What do we do?" The twins asked together.

"Ah, you still do that thing..., with the voices. Anyway, never mind that. Stop that nurse!" He said pointing over at someone on the other side of the park who was snapping some pictures of a man walking his dog. They started running and ran past a little duck pond. Lexi almost fell in running past it, but was able to catch herself. As they got closer, Lexi started to recognize the nurse. When they reached the nurse, The Doctor promptly snatched the phone out of his hand. "The sun's going out and you're taking pictures of a man and dog. Why?" The Doctor asked instantly. Rory had a confused look on his face, but smiled when he saw Amy.

"Amy!" He said happily while giving her a quick side hug. "And Lexi!" Rory said giving Lexi a quick side hug too.

"Hi!" Amy said sweetly. "Oh sorry, this is Rory. He's a friend."

"Boyfriend." Rory interjected.

"Kind of boyfriend."

"Man and dog. Why?" The Doctor demanded more intently. No time for domestics right now. He was trying to pull the conversation back to the matter at hand. Rory's mouth fell open in recognition.

"Oh my God, it's him." Rory said almost in disbelief. He looked over to Amy and Lexi for some sort of an explanation.

"Just answer the question Rory. Please?" Lexi said pressing on.

"It's him though. The Doctor. The Raggedy Doctor." Rory went on pointing at The Doctor.

"Yeah. He came back." Lexi and Amy said in unison.

"But he was a story! A game!" Rory kept insisting.

"Man and dog, why? Tell me right now!" The Doctor said more firmly this time.

"Sorry." Rory said shaking his head. "Because he can't be there. Because he's-"

"In a hospital, in a coma." The Doctor and Rory said together. Rory nodded in agreement. The Doctor looked excited. Like he had just been given the greatest present ever.

"I knew it! I knew it! Multi-form, you see? It disguises itself as anything. It needs a live feed though, a psychic link with a living but dormant mind." The Doctor looked at the the three of them, but turned his attention away when he heard the man bark. It wasn't the man's dog that was barking, but the man himself. Lexi just tilted her head and looked at the man in confusion. Her expression quickly changed from confused to understanding. A wide grin spread across her face.

"Okay, well that's clever."

"Prisoner Zero." The Doctor said stepping a couple steps towards the man.

"Wait, what? That's Prisoner Zero? He's here?" Amy asked shocked. He didn't look anything like what she had dreamt about. In her dreams, he was always this snakelike creature. Maybe she wasn't really putting two and two together quite just yet like her sister seemed to be doing.

"Okay, I think I'm getting this. If he can change from form to form, then that is not what he actually looks like. In the dreams he was always some sort of snake like creature." Lexi said trying to make sense of it in her head.

"Yes. That's exactly right. Now-" The Doctor then started to argue with Prisoner Zero. Lexi then saw The Doctor pull out what looked like some type of screwdriver thing. He pointed it straight in the air and sparks flew from it and it started to melt.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor started cradling the screwdriver like it was something he couldn't live without. In truth, maybe he couldn't. He wasn't looking at Prisoner Zero anymore. He didn't see how Prisoner Zero just sort of dissipated into the drain.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled. "He sort of just melted down the drain." The Doctor let out a groan of annoyance.

"Okay, okay... We need to drive Prisoner Zero out into the open. No TARDIS, no screwdriver, and seventeen minutes. Think, think, think!" He hit his forehead with each 'think'. "Okay! First Amy, I need your friend's laptop. What was his name?" Amy gestured to Rory. "No not him."

"Thanks." Rory said a little sarcastically.

"The good looking one."

"Jeff." Amy replied.

"Oh thanks." Rory said even more sarcastically than before.

"Now... You two." He pointed to Amy and Rory. "Go to the hospital. Get everyone out of the ward. Clear the whole floor. Phone me when you're done." The Doctor looked at Lexi. "You and I are going to find Jeff's laptop." He grabbed Lexi's hand and began dragging her in the direction of where Jeff lived.

They quickly made it to Jeff's house. The Doctor just walked in without even knocking and Lexi just followed closely behind. They walked right past Jeff's gran. Lexi gave a slight wave, but was being pulled along with The Doctor towards the back bedroom. Jeff was sitting on his bed using his laptop.

"Hello. Laptop. Give me." The Doctor grabbed the laptop and sat down on the end of the bed. Lexi sat down next to him while Jeff tried to protest it. He tried to take the laptop back. "It's okay, just let me use it!" The Doctor was able to wrangle it from Jeff's grip. He then place it on his lap. He angled to where he and Lexi could both see. Lexi quickly put a hand in front of her eyes. The Doctor's eyes grew wide. "Blimey. Get a girlfriend Jeff."

"What are you doing?" Jeff's gran walked in the room and sat down next to Lexi. The Doctor was just type type typing away on the computer.

"The sun's gone all wibbly wobbly, so right now, somewhere out there, there's going going to be a big video conference call." The Doctor said as he was still typing. "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need? Me." He pressed one final button and grinned. "Ah, and here they all are. All the big boys. NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Center, Patrick Moore."

"I like Patrick Moore." Jeff's gran told all of them.

"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Lexi said disbelievingly.

"Can't I?"

* * *

><p>"First floor, on the left, fourth from the end." Amy reported from the hospital. Lexi repeated everything that was being told to her back to The Doctor. He was driving a fire truck at the moment. Lexi was having to hold on to a pole inside. She wasn't that confident in The Doctor's ability to drive a vehicle like that. She was proven to be correct, as she was almost knocked off her feet when The Doctor almost hit an oncoming car.<p>

"Tell them to duck!" The Doctor shouted as he came up to the hospital and prepared to ram into a front window. Lexi texted Amy and was relieved when she saw their figures through the window drop to the ground.

"Hello! Am I late?" The Doctor asked as he climbed up the ladder into the hospital with Lexi following behind him. "No, three minutes. There's still time."

Prisoner Zero was disguised as a woman holding the hands of her two daughters. She sneered at The Doctor.

"Time for what? Time Lord." She asked. Lexi felt curious as to what I Time Lord was, but she thought it was probably best not to ask right then. She was to terrified at Prisoner Zero. She managed to make a kind looking mother very terrifying. It felt just as bad as the nightmares she and Amy used to have when they were younger.

"Take the disguise off. They'll find you in an instant. Nobody dies." The Doctor reasoned. Prisoner Zero laughed.

"The Atraxi will kill me this time... If I am to die, let there be fire."

Lexi and Amy shared a look with each other, they weren't going to let Prizoner Zero scare them anymore. They nodded and then spoke in unison. "You came to this world by opening a crack in our wall. Do it again and just leave." Prisoner Zero looked at them with a menacing smile.

"I did not open the crack."

The Doctor got into a heated discussion with Prisoner Zero about where the crack came from, about how Prisoner Zero used what was already there.

There was some childish taunting on Prisoner Zero's part, which seemed weird in Amy and Lexi's minds.

Then, the clock on the walled turned to 0:00. A wide grin grew across The Doctor's face. Lexi was pretty sure that The Doctor was being clever and that what was going on probably had something to do with Rory's phone and Jeff's laptop. He had created some kind of virus for the space experts to use.

"The Atraxi are limited. While in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me. They've tracked a phone, not me."

The Doctor didn't seem at all bothered by that statement. "Yeah, but this is the good bit. I mean, this is my favorite bit. Do you know what this phone is full of?" He paused for a moment. "Pictures of you. Every form you've learned to take, right here. Ooh, and being uploaded right about... now! And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare. Who da man?!" Rory, Amy and Lexi all shared a look with eyebrows raised. They could barely contain their laughter. "Oh, I'm never saying that again."

Prisoner Zero scoffed. "Them I shall take a new form." The Doctor laughed.

"Oh stop it. You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link." A maniacal grin spread across the woman's face, which made Lexi and Amy's stomachs have that sinking feeling.

"And I've had years." As if on cue, Amy and Lexi's bodies went limp and their vision blackened as they hit the ground. Rory was over at their sides in a second.

It was one of the worst nightmares the twins ever had. Prisoner zero had taken the form of The Doctor. He was holding 'Amelia's' and 'Alexis's' hands. Prisoner Zero was taunting them about how they were just the weird outcasts and how no one wanted to be their friend.

_"Poor little Amelia and Alexis Pond. Still such children inside, waiting for their magic Doctor to come and whisk them away."_ Tears were streaming down Lexi's face.

The Doctor was over at Lexi's side and Rory was over with Amy. The Doctor brushed Lexi's red hair back behind one of her ears. He was speaking to both twins.

From what they could tell, The Doctor's voice seemed to float through the dark abiss of their minds. "Lexi?... Amy?... If you both can hear me, listen good... Hear me! You both have been dreaming about Prisoner Zero all your lives. You know what it looks like. Both of you have to work together and concentrate on that. Think of all those nightmares that would keep you two up at night, the ones so bad that you would be too afraid to leave your bed. Concentrate!"

It was difficult, but Amy and Lexi seemed to manage together and did what they were told. They thought of how Prisoner Zero really looked. It started to screech out, but was reluctant to change shape.

_"Alexis and Amelia Pond, still trying to cling to the magic Doctor., even though he didn't care enough to come back for twelve long years."_ It screeched some more and and started to change to its real and true form, the snakelike creature it really was._ "He won't rescue you from the boring lives you so desperately want to leave."_

Amy and Lexi's eyes flew open and they sat straight up. The Doctor smiled and turned back around to see Prisoner Zero start to disappear.

"Silence, Doctor. Silence will fall." And with that it disappeared completely.

"What happened?" Lexi seemed to ask holding her head in pain.

The Doctor and Rory gave them a run down of how Prisoner Zero had taken the form of them as little girls holding The Doctor's hands. They told them, that by remembering all that, it helped The Atraxi catch Prisoner Zero.

"And he's brought the aliens back!" Rory said frustratedly. He helped Amy up and The Doctor help Lexi up. She didn't feel all that great. The room seemed to be spinning a bit. She held onto The Doctor for some support. The dizziness seemed to pass in an instant. The Doctor then started walking fastly and out of the ward.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked as they all followed him.

"The roof. No, hang on." The Doctor said as he veered off into a side changing room.

"What's in here?" Lexi asked.

"I'm saving the world. I need a decent shirt. To hell with the raggedy. Time to put on a show." He then proceeded to take off all of his clothes.

"You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens... Deadly aliens, aliens of death, and now you're taking your clothes off. Amy, Lexi, he's taking his clothes off." The women were looking on appreciatively.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you." The Doctor said continuing to change.

"Are you stealing clothes now? Those clothes belong to people, you know." Rory said as he turned his back. "Are either of you going to turn your back?"

"Nope." Lexi and Amy said, not taking their eyes off The Doctor.

They all made their way up to the roof, where the giant Atraxi eye was waiting for them. The Doctor had a bunch of ties hanging around his neck. He was having trouble deciding.

"So this was a good idea, was it? They were leaving." Rory interjected.

"Leaving is good. Never coming back is better. Come on then! The Doctor will see you now!" The giant eye scanned The Doctor.

"You are not of this world." The eye seemed to say.

"No, but I've put a lot of work into it." The Doctor examined a tie. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Is this world important?"

"Important? What's that mean, important?" He tossed the tie and Rory caught it. "Six billion people live here. Is that important? Here's a better question. Is this world a threat to the Atraxi?" He threw another another tie and landed on Lexi's shoulder. She handed it to Rory. "We'll come on. You're monitoring the whole planet. IS this world a threat?"

The Atraxi projected a hologram of the Earth with scenes from it's history.

"Are the people of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?"

"No."

"Ok. One more thing. Just one. Is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to come here." As The Doctor is speaking, the hologram shows Cybermen, Daleks, the Queen of the Racnoss, Ood, Sycorax, a Sontaran, a Sea Devil, Reapers, the Hath and the Vashta Nerada in the spacesuit. "Oh there have been so many. And what you've got to ask is... what happened to them?" The hologram then projected a bunch of the incarnations of The Doctor, from the first one all the way through the tenth before he stepped through it. "Hello. I'm The Doctor. Basically... run."

The Atraxi ship flew off before anyone could even blink. The Doctor felt something in his pocket. He held in his hand a glowing key.

"Is that it? Is that them gone for good? Who were they?" Amy asked while looking up at the sky with Rory and Lexi. They all looked back down to see that The Doctor was gone. They barely even saw him run back inside.

Lexi thanked her stars that Leadworth was so small. They made it back to their house in no time flat. She was sure that Amy got the same sinking feeling when they heard that wheezing noise that came from The Doctor's blue box/time machine. She remembered it from when he had left her and Amy twelve years ago. When they finally made it into their back garden, The Doctor and his box were gone...

_2 years later..._

Lexi was at the kitchen table in a black and pink Victoria's Secret hoodie that Amy had given her for her birthday, some long fuzzy black and white zebra pajama bottoms and a pair of a black slippers shaped like black panthers. Suffice to say, she was comfortable. She was working on final flower arrangements for Amy's wedding the next day. Amy had already gone to bed. She had asked her to be the maid of honor, so she was trying to make everything as perfect as possible. All of a sudden, Lexi thought she felt a breeze coming in from the open kitchen window. Then, she wasn't sure, but then she thought she heard that familiar wheezing noise. She quickly ran into the entry way to see Amy running down the stairs wearing slippers and putting on a robe.

"So I'm guessing you heard it too?" Lexi asked coming up to Amy at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah, I did." Amy said. If they both heard it, it has to be real. Right?

They ran out into the back garden to be met with that glorious blue box. The Doctor was leaning against it with a shy grin on his face.

"Sorry about running off earlier. Brand new TARDIS, bit exciting. Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in. She's ready for the big stuff now.' Amy and Lexi stared at him with wide eyes.

"It's you. You came back." They both said disbelievingly.

"Course I came back. I always come back. Something wrong with that?" The Doctor said taking a step forward.

"And you kept the clothes." Amy said looking The Doctor up and down.

"Well, I just saved the world, the whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me. I kept the clothes."

"Including the bow tie?' Amy asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, it's cool. Bow ties are cool." The Doctor said straightening his bow tie.

"Are you from another planet?" Lexi asked finally chiming in.

"Yeah.' The Doctor replied with a smile.

"Ok..." Lexi said almost in a whisper.

"So what do you think?"

"Of what?" The women asked in unison.

"Other planets. Want to check some out?"

"What does that even mean?' Lexi asked in a confused and irritated tone.

"It means... Well, it means... come with me."

"Where?" Amy asked in the same tone her sister had.

"Wherever you like." The Doctor said putting one hand on the side of the TARDIS.

"All that stuff, the hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero..." Amy started.

"Oh, don't worry. That's just the beginning. There's loads more."

"Yeah, but all those things, amazing things, all that stuff..." Amy was angry. Then she looked over at Lexi who was angry as well. Lexi looked at Amy and it was as if they were thinking the same thing. They gave each other a nod.

"THAT WAS TWO YEARS AGO!" The Pond twins shouted together. They were furious.

"Oh-oh! Oops." The Doctor was looking pretty guilty and was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah." Lexi replied.

"So that's..."

"FOURTEEN YEARS!" Amy yelled.

"Fourteen years since fish custard. Amy and Lexi Pond, the girls who waited, you've waited long enough."Lexi and Amy took a step forward, but Lexi was the one who spoke.

"When we were kids, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was in the library."

"Yeah. Not sure where it's got to now. It'll turn up. So... coming?" Amy and Lexi had looks on their faces that would pretty easy to read for anyone else, but The Doctor wasn't just anyone.

"No!' They shouted at the same time.

"You wanted to come fourteen years ago."

"We grew up." They said together.

"Oh don't worry. I'll soon fix that." The Doctor snapped his fingers making the TARDIS doors open and bathing them in a warm orange glow. The twins eyes grew wide. They were so overwhelmed, that they walked inside it. The Doctor followed behind them and closed the doors. He then ran up to the console and twirled back around to face them.

"Well...? Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks? I've heard them all." They looked around at the big and vast room. It was metallic looking. There was a center column above a large floor that was made a glass so you could see through it. There were also some other stairs that led to other levels and doors.

"I'm in my nighty." Amy said quickly.

"I'm wearing panther slippers." Lexi said while still looking all around her.

"Oh, don't worry. Plenty of clothes in the wardrobe. AND possibly a swimming pool! So... all of time space, everything that ever happened or ever will... Where do you want to start?" The Doctor asked while walking around the console pressing buttons.

"You're so sure that we're coming." Amy said walking up beside him.

"Yeah, I am."

"Why?" Lexi asked coming up to other side of him.

"Cos you're the Scottish girls in the English village, and I know how that feels."

"Oh, do you?" Lexi asked leaning in.

"All these years living here most of your lives... and you've still got those accents. Yeah, you're coming."

"Can you get us back for tomorrow morning?" Amy asked hesitantly. Lexi mentally kicked herself for almost forgetting about the wedding.

"Why, what's tomorrow." The Doctor asked.

"Nothing. Nothing. Just... you know, stuff." Amy said stroking her hand on the edge of the console.

"All right then. Back in time for stuff." A brand new screwdriver popped up from the console. The Doctor grabbed it. "Oh, a new one! " He pointed it in the air and pressed the button to test it. "Lovely... Thanks dear." The Doctor said in a whisper. He then started setting the controls.

"Why us?" Lexi asked coming up beside him again.

"Why not?"

"No seriously. You are asking us to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question. Why us?"

"I don't know. Fun. Do I have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason." Amy said in her sister's defense.

"Do I look like people?"

"Yes." Amy and Lexi replied together.

"Been knocking around on my own for a while. My choice, but I've started talking to myself. It's giving me an earache."

"You're lonely. That's it? Just that?" Lexi asked now standing by Amy.

"Just that. Promise." The Doctor said looking at the screen. He was lying of course. He wouldn't tell them that though. He was looking at a crack on the screen that was mimicking the crack from their bedroom wall.

The twins looked at each other and then back at The Doctor. "Okay." Lexi and Amy said in unison.

The Doctor then switched off the monitor. "So, are you okay, then? Cos this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit... you know."

"We're fine. It's just... There's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. We thought... well, we started to think that maybe you were just..." Amy sttopped and let Lexi finish.

"A madman with a box." The Doctor looked between the two women.

"Amy and Lexi Pond, there's something you better understand. It's important, and one day your lives may depend on it." He had a wide grin across his face. "I am definitely a madman with a box. Ha-ha! Yeah." Amy and Lexi giggled. "Goodbye Leadworth. Hello, everything!" The Doctor grabbed a gavel and started smacking the console with it.

The whole room shook, as they felt the time machine disappear out of their garden. Who knows where they would go?!

**A/N: I hope you liked it as much as I loved writing it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed. I'm in the middle of my mid-terms, so I probably won't post anything for the rest of the week. Next chapter will be "The Beast Below" ! Until then my lovelies... :)**


	3. The Beast Below: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 3: The Beast Below

**A/N: Hey, I know it's been a week since my last post, but I did tell you I would post as soon as I could. Midterms were crazy, but hey, I didn't fail anything. So that's an accomplishment. Right? Anyway, I'm on my TWO WEEK Christmas vacation! So, I should have more time to write. If any of you are wondering about my other story****_ 'Stella Amelia Song Three Fourths Time Lord One Fourth Human'_****, don't worry. I haven't abandoned it. I'm just having writer's block for that story at the moment. I'm a little over half done writing the third chapter for it, but I'm stuck on a certain spot. I'll figure it out in due time though. This episode will be split into a few separate chapters. It ended up being longer than expected, so I had to split it up. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!**

It was so beautiful, the dark abiss of space. Stars were everywhere. It was so much better than what you could ever see with any telescope. Lexi was sitting down with her panther clad feet dangling outside the TARDIS doors, gazing up at the stars. The Doctor was hanging onto one of Amy's ankles and letting her float just outside the doors.

After a few more minutes of this, The Doctor pulled Amy in and Lexi got up to lean against the door frame. It was hard to believe where they were. Yet, here it was, right in front of them. Was Amy getting married tomorrow, or a long time ago? Time travel was a confusing, but fascinating thing. So many thoughts were running through Lexi's mind that she almost didn't notice a large spaceship floating far below them. It almost looked like a giant city. Maybe it was.

"Doctor, Amy, look!" Lexis said pointing down.

"Now, that's interesting." The Doctor said glancing down at the ship. "29th Century. Solar flares roast the Earth," The Doctor walked back to the the console while Lexi and Amy continued to look down. "and the entire human race packs its bags," The Doctor was working the controls. "and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations...migrating to the stars. Isn't that amazing?!'

"Fascinating..." Amy said still looking down.

The Doctor pulled up the spaceship on the monitor. "This is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - all of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship - that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and... shopping." The twins giggled at that. "Searching the stars for a new home." Amy and Lexi turned away from the spaceship and looked at The Doctor.

""Can we go see it?" Amy and Lexi asked in unison. The Doctor grinned at them both.

"Course we can but first... there's a thing."

"What thing?' Lexi asked tilting her head to the side.

"An important thing. In fact, thing one-" The Doctor quickly whipped out a magnifying glass from inside his jacket. and quickly ran up to the twins causing them to jump. He used the magnifying glass to look back and forth between them. "We are observers only." The Doctor then ran back to the monitor. He continued talking to the twins while looking at the screen. "That's the one rule I've always stuck to in my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets. Ooh! That's interesting." Amy and Lexi went and stood at The Doctor's sides and looked at the screen. They saw a young girl sitting alone on a bench... crying.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Cos if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it. They've got to keep filming and let it die." Amy looked at the screen with sad eyes.

Lexi had the same expression on her face. "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find that hard, being all like, detached and cold?"

Both Amy and Lexi looked up from the screen to see that The Doctor was no longer standing there with them. "Doctor?!" They asked together. They looked back at the screen to see that he appeared onscreen next to the young girl. They saw that he was waving at them and motioning for them to come and join him.

Amy and Lexi walked over to the TARDIS doors and poked their heads out. They then stepped foot outside and into a bustling marketplace. There was an arched glass ceiling that gave them a wonderful view of the stars. The market was a series of stalls and booths that were very similar to what you would see in any contemporary marketplace. They both just stared around in wonder.

"Lexi, we're in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. We've been dead for centuries."

"Oh lovely. You're cheery one Amy." The Doctor said appearing in front of them from nowhere. "Never mind dead." The Doctor said grabbing Amy and Lexi's hands and pulling them along with him. "Come along Ponds. Look at this place. Isn't it wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Lexi asked turning her head to look at The Doctor as he continued to pull them along with him.

"Use your eyes, notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?"

"Is it... the bicycle?" Amy asked pointing to a rickshaw. "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles."

"Says the girl in the nightie." The Doctor said with a laugh.

"Oh my God! I'm in my nightie! But hey! Don't just make fun of me! My sister wearing panther slippers!"

"Hey! I like panthers! Panthers are cool!" Lexi retorted.

"Can't argue with opinions. Now now girls, come on. Look around you. Actually look."

_"London Market is a crime free zone." _A loud voice said over the speaker system.

"Life on a giant spaceship, back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me." The Doctor then let go of the twins' hands and ran over to a table and took a glass of water from someone sitting there. He then gently set the glass on the floor and looked at it intently. He then set it back on the table. The Doctor looked at the people sitting at the table who were giving him strange confused looks. "Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. " The Doctor then ran back over to the twins. "Where was I?"

"Why did you just do that with the water?" Amy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't know. I think it's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?"

"Where?" Amy asked looking around.

"There!" Lexi said snapping and pointing "She's sitting there crying. Everyone's walking past her and ignoring her." The Doctor looked at Lexi impressed. Amy nodded in understanding.

The three started walking that way. They didn't even notice a hooded man with an amulet watching them. They sat down on a bench facing the young girl.

"One little girl crying. So?" Amy asked dismissively.

"Crying silently. I mean, children cry cos they want attention, cos they're hurt or afraid. When they cry silently, it's cos they just can't stop. Any parent knows that."

"Are you a parent?" Amy and Lexi asked at the same time. The Doctor seemed startled by this question. He just shook his head dismissively.

"Hundreds of parents walking past this spot and not one of them is asking her what's wrong, which means... they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows. Whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state." Lexi was listening, but not looking at The Doctor. She was watching the young girl. She saw that the girl was getting up when the lift bell rang, signaling it had arrived. She saw that a creepy figure in some booth off to the side was watching the girl.

"Um, guys?"

The Doctor and Amy looked back to the bench where they thought they would see the young girl.

"Where'd she go?" Amy asked standing up.

"Deck 207, Apple Sesame block, Dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh!" The Doctor handed Lexi an ID wallet. "Took me four goes. Ask her about those things, the smiling fellows in the booths. I noticed you looking at them. They're everywhere."

"But they're just things." Amy seemed to protest.

"Yes Amy, but they're clean. Everything else here is battered and filthy. Look at this place. No one has laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Now Lexi, ask Mandy, 'Why are people scared of the things in the booths?'."

"Why me? Cos, if you haven't noticed there's two of us here."

"It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Lexi Pond choose? Haha, gotcha!" The Doctor looked down at his watch. "Meet Amy and I back here in half an hour."

"What are you going to do?"

"What I always do. Stay out of trouble." The Doctor stood up more straight and adjusted his bow tie. "Badly. Now, come along Pond." The Doctor grabbed Amy's hand and started to walk away.

"Is this how it works then? Doctor! You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying."

Without even turning around The Doctor yelled back in reply. "Yes!" Amy turned her head around and mouthed back to Lexi, _'Sorry'_.

Resigned to her task, Lexi turned around and tried to figure out which way to go.

_About 5-10 minutes later..._

Lexi stopped to get her bearings near another booth. She then found the way she wanted to go and headed down a street.

"Your following me. Saw you watching me at the marketplace."

"You dropped this." Lexi said handing Mandy the ID wallet.

"Yeah, when your friend kept bumping into me."

Lexi saw that there was an area of the street surrounded by barriers. "What's that?"

"There's a hole. We have to go back."

"A what? A hole?" There was a whole right in front of a shop called _'Magpie Electricals'_.

"Are you stupid?! There's a hole in the road. We can't go that way." Lexi ignored her and headed for the gate. "There's a travel pipe down by the airlocks, if you've got stamps. What are doing?"

"Oh, don't mind me. Never could resist a _'keep out' _sign. What's through there? What's so scary about a hole? Something under the road?" Lexi sat down on the ground to examine a lock. Mandy looked over to one the creepy figures in the booths.

"Nobody knows. We're not supposed to talk about it."

"About what?" Lexi asked turning around to glance at Mandy.

"Below."

"And because you're not supposed to, you don't? Watch and learn." Lexi said grabbing one of the hairpins from her hair.

"You sound Scottish."

"I am Scottish. What's wrong with that? Scotland's got to be here somewhere."

"No. They wanted their own ship."

"Hmm. Good for them. Nothing changes."

"So... How'd you get here?" Mandy asked curiously. Both of them didn't noticed that the figure in the booth had turned its smiling face to a frowny face.

"Oh, just passing through, you know, with a guy."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Oh..."

"What is it?"

"Nothing just... My sister's getting married. Funny how things just slip your mind."

"Your sister is getting married and your here. Why?"

"Well it's weird, she's not getting married until tomorrow morning... or a long time ago. Hard to explain." The lock Lexi has been working on this whole time opens. "Hey, hey, result! Coming?"

"No!"

"Suit yourself." As Lexi entered the tent, she saw that the inside was dark, except for red emergency lights flashing. Lexi found a torch and turned it on. In the beam that it emitted, she saw a creature - or part of a creature - reaching out through the hole. It was swaying slowly.

"Oh my God. That's weird. That's..." The creature striked with what seemed to be either a beak or a stinger. Lexi shouted and scooted backwards out of the tent. Back outside, she stopped and saw that she was surrounded by more hooded men. One of the men sprayed gas from a ring he was wearing, at Lexi. She started to feel light headed and her vision started to blur. She fell down to the ground unconscious.


	4. The Beast Below: Part 2

_Somewhere else on the ship..._

The Doctor and Amy were in a maintenance corridor. They were climbing down a ladder. When they were on the ground, The Doctor placed his hands on the wall leaning into it to listen to something.

"Can't be." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver to get a reading. He then noticed a glass of water on the floor and lied down to stare at it. Amy looked at him trying to figure out what could possibly be running through his head.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water." A whispering voice piped in out of nowhere. A woman appeared in front of The Doctor and Amy. They could tell she wore a mask even though she was turned away from them. "Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?" The Doctor then stood up.

"You know me?"

"Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass." The voice said continuing to whisper.

"Who says he sees anything?" Amy chimed in.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace Doctor, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then you both came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

"No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So... I thought we'd take a look." The Doctor then opened a power box on the wall. "It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look, look. They're dummies. See?" He then crossed over to the other side of the hall and tapped a wall. "And this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better. I'd say there was..."

"No engines at all." Amy whispered in realization.

"Quite right Amy, but it's working. This ship is traveling through space. We saw it."

"The impossible truth, Doctor. We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly."

"But how?" Amy asked confused.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. All of you help us. You're our only hope. You're friend is safe. I'm guessing this is her twin sister since she looks just like her."

"Yeah, where is my sister?" Amy asked a bit worriedly. The woman handed The Doctor a device.

"This will take you to her. Now both of you, go! Quickly!" The woman began to walk away.

"Who are you? How do we find you again?" The woman turned around to face them.

"I am Liz 10. And I will find you." There was a crashing noise and The Doctor and Amy looked around, but when they turned back, Liz 10 was gone.

_In a voting cubicle..._

Lexi woke up in a chair and the first thing she saw was The Smiler in the booth. There were four monitors in front of her in the style of retro televisions. A computerized voice started to speak.

_"Welcome to voting cubicle 330C. Please leave this installation as you would wish to find it." _Lexi stood up to have a look around while the voice continued to speak. _"The United Kingdom recognizes the right to know all of its citizens." _Lexi turned back to look at the screens. There were 3 large buttons in front of her: 'Protest', 'Record' and 'Forget'. _"A presentation concerning the history of Starship UK will begin shortly. Your identity is being verified on our electoral roll." _Lexi sat back down in the chair. _"Name - Alexis Giselle Pond. Age - 1,306."_

Lexi gasped. "Shut up!" She let a small giggle.

_"Marital status... Single." _Lexi frowned at that comment.

Lexi flipped back into the chair. On the four screens, a video started to play, showing an older man as a presenter.

_"You are here because you want to know the truth about the starship, and I am talking to you because you're entitled to know. When this presentation has finished, you will have a choice. You may protest... or forget. If you choose to protest, understand this. If just 1% of the population of this ship do likewise, the programme will be discontinued, with consequences for you all. If you choose to accept the situation - and we hope that you will, then press the 'forget' button. All the information I am about to give you will be erased from your memory. You will continue to enjoy the safety and amenities of Starship UK, unburdened by the knowledge of what has been done to save you. Here, then, is the truth about Starship UK, and the price that has been paid for the safety of the British people. May God have mercy on our souls."_

Images started to flash across the screens. They reflected in Lexi's eyes. She reacted and quickly pressed the forget button. She wiped the tears from her eyes. A video message from herself started to play on the screen.

_"This isn't a trick. You've got to find The Doctor and get him back to the TARDIS. Don't let him investigate. Stop him. Do whatever you have to. Just please, please get The Doctor off this ship!_"

The door to the room opened and she saw Mandy and Amy waiting for her. As the message continued to replay, The Doctor hopped into the doorway.

"Lexi?" Lexi turned the message off. "What have you done?" A moment later, The Doctor was on the chair using the sonic screwdriver on the lamp above. "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about 20 minutes." The Doctor jumped to the floor.

"But why would I choose to forget?" Lexi asked as Amy came up and stood beside her.

"Cos everyone does. Everyone chooses the 'forget' button." Mandy said standing in the doorway.

"Did you?"The Doctor asked turning around to look at Mandy.

"I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm 12. Any time after you're 16, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice. And then, once every five years..."

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action." The Doctor turned back to the monitors.

"How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?" Mandy asked tilting her head.

"Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me."

"It played for me."

"The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human."

"Why not?" Amy asked. The Doctor turned to look at her. "I mean, you look human." The twins walked over to join him at the monitors.

"No, you look Time Lord. We came first."

"So there are other Time Lords. Yeah?" Lexi asked turning her head to look at The Doctor.

"No. There were, but there aren't... Just me now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what? I'd loved to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Cos this is what I do. Every time. Every day. Every second. This. Hold tight Ponds. We're bringing down the government." The Doctor pounded the 'Protest' button. The door slammed shut, leaving Mandy outside. The Smiler in the booth turned to show its very angry face. The Doctror pulled Lexi and Amy into the corner of the room as the floor slid open. "Say, 'Wheee'!"

"Ahhhh!" Amy and Lexi screened together. The trio fell down the shoot.

_Hallway outside voting cubicle..._

The lit sign switched from 'Occupied' to 'Empty'. A figure came up behind Mandy, startling her.

"It's alright, love." The figure removed its mask to reveal it was Liz 10. "It's only me."

_Refuse pile..._

The Doctor, Lexi and Amy fell out of the chute with a scream. The Doctor then stood up and used his sonic screwdriver. "High-speed air cannon. Lousy way to travel."

"Where are we?" Lexi asked trying to stand up. The Doctor went over and helped her steady herself.

"600 feet down. 20 miles laterally, puts us at the heart of the ship. I'd say... Lancashire. What's this then? A cave? Can't be a cave. Looks like a cave." The Doctor said letting go of Lexi seeing that she had regained her balance. Amy seemed to stand up without a problem.

"It's a rubbish dump, and it's minging!" Amy said throwing a piece of rubbish.

"Yes, but only food refuse." The Doctor sniffed the air. "Organic, coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship." Amy then got down on her hands and knees.

"The floor is all squidgy, like a water bed."

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy."

Then a distant moaning could be heard. The Doctor's eyes grow wide as he realized where they were. Amy stood up from her position on the floor.

"Er... It's not a floor, it's a... So..." The Doctor put his sonic back in his inside jacket pocket.

"It's a what?" Lexi asked looking around.

"The next word is kind of the scary word. Take a moment. Get yourself in a calm place." The Doctor grabbed Amy and Lexi's hands. "Go 'omm'." The twins complied.

"Omm."

"It's a tongue."

"A tongue?" The twins asked turning their heads towards each other

"A tongue. A great big tongue!" The Doctor said excitedly.

"This is a mouth? This whole place is a mouth? We're in a mouth?!" Amy said with wide eyes.

"Yes, yes, but on the plus side, roomy." The Doctor said spreading his arms wide.

"How do we get out?" Lexi asked a bit confused. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver.

"How big is this beastie? It's gorgeous! Blimey! If this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach." He hears grunting. "Though not right now."

"Doctor, how do we get out?" Amy asked more intently.

"Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeder tubes, so the normal entrance is..." The Doctor looked over to see the sharp teeth of a closed mouth. "closed for business."

"We can try, though." The twins said in unison as they started to head forward.

"No! Stop, don't move!" The mouth started to heave in agitation. "Too late, it's started."

"What has?" Amy asked in a worried tone.

"Swallow reflex." The trio slipped and fell back into the refuse. The Doctor pointed the screwdriver to use on the mouth walls.

"What are you doing?" Lexi asked confused.

"I'm vibrating the chemo-receptors."

"Chemo-what?" Amy and Lexi asked together.

"The eject button."

"How does a mouth have an eject button?" Amy asked wondering what The Doctor could possibly be thinking.

"Think about it." The creature growled. They then saw a wave of bile coming towards them. "Right then." The Doctor said straightening his bow tie. "This isn't going to be big on dignity Ponds. GERONIMO!" They all yelled out and found themselves out of the mouth and back in the ship. The Doctor got up and started examining a door. Amy and Lexi helped each other up. "There's nothing broken. There's no sign of concussion and yes, you both are covered in sick."

"Where we?" Amy asked picking something out of Lexi's hair.

"Overspill pipe, at a guess."

"Oh, God. It stinks." Amy said with a scrunched up nose.

"Um, I don't think that's the pipe Amy." Lexi said picking something out of Amy's hair.

"Oh." Amy sniffs herself. "Whoo! Can we get out?"

The Doctor didn't even turn away from the door as he continued to speak. "One door, one door switch, one condition." The Doctor moved to the side a bit to show the twins the button on the door. "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot." The lights came on to reveal two Smilers. "Ooh, here's the stick. There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing there?" The faces spun around to show that they were mad. "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks, and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That's how it works?" The faces spun around again to show they were angry. "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?" The booths opened and the two Smilers stood and walked towards The Doctor, Lexi and Amy.

"Doctor?!" Amy and Lexi yelled together. All of a sudden, Liz 10 appeared behind them and then shot the Smilers. She twirled her pistol before putting it back in its holster.

"Look who it is. You look a lot better without your mask."

"You must be Lexi. Liz. Liz 10."

"Hi." Lexi said shaking Liz's hand.

"Eurgh!" Liz said wiping her and on her cloak. "Lovely hair, Lexi. Shame about the sick." Lexi could hear Amy let out a quick giggle. She turned to look at Amy and Amy quickly shut up. Liz 10 then started for the door. "You know Mandy, yeah?" Liz asked putting an arm around Mandy's shoulder. "She's very brave."

"How'd you find us?" The Soctor asked stepping forward.

"Stuck my gizmo on you." Liz through a device at The Doctor. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over 16, you've voted. Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."

"No. Never forgot, never voted. Not technically a British subject."

"Then who and what are you, and how do you know me?"

"You're a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious stranger, consistent with higher alien intelligence, hair like an idiot..." The Doctor pointed like he was about to argue, then ran his hand through his soaked hair instead. "I've been brought up on the stories. My whole family was."

"Your family?" Amy asked chiming in. Then one of the Smiler began to move.

"They're repairing. Doesn't take them long. Let's move." They all left the overspill.

_Lower corridors..._

"The Doctor. Old drinking buddy of Henry XII. Tea and scone with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn't she? Knighted and exiled you on the same day. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!" Lexi's face looked shocked at that last part.

"Liz 10?" The Doctor asked as two Smilers rose from booths in the corridor.

"Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth X. And down!" Liz shot both Smilers with her pistols. "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." Liz then took them to another corridor. It was the base of a vator shaft. "There's a high-speed Vator through there." The Doctor, Lexi and Amy looked into a caged area where there were two of the things Lexi saw earlier. "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"

"Doctor, I saw one of these up top. There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root."

"Exactly like a root. It's all one creature - the same one we were inside - reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."

"What? Like an infestation?" Amy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Something's helping it. Feeding it."

"Feeding my subjects to it. Come on. We've got to keep moving." Liz 10 said storming off with Mandy following her.

"Doctor?" The twins asks together.

"Oh, Ponds..." The Doctor said while looking at creatures sympathetically as they banged against the bars. "We should never have come here." Lexi remembered her video message.


	5. The Beast Below: Part 3

_Liz 10's opulent bedroom..._

The Doctor was walking carefully through the maze of glasses on the floor of Liz's room. "Why all the glasses?" Liz 10 was on her bed.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what." The Doctor then picked up Liz's mask.

"A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"

"Secrets are being kept from me. I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this - my entire reign - and you've achieved more in one afternoon." The Doctor was pacing now.

"How old were you when you came to the throne?"

"40. Why?"

Amy was fixing Lexi's hair. "What? You're 50 now? No way!" They joined Mandy on the chaise at the foot of the bed.

"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps." The Doctor sat down on the bed still holding the mask.

"And you always wear this in public?"

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting."

"Air-balanced porcelain. Stays on by itself, cos it's perfectly sculpted to your face."

"Yeah. So what?"

"Oh, Liz. So everything."

All of a sudden, the door opened and four hooded men entered. One was the same from the marketplace. Liz was outraged.

"What are you doing?! How dare you come in here?!"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK. You will come with us now."

"Why would I do that?" Liz asked as the hooded man's head spinned around to show the face of an angry Smiler. "How can they be Smilers?"

"Half Smiler, half human." The Doctor said in realization. Liz 10 stared at its face.

"Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am."

"I AM the highest authority."

"Yes ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am."

"Where?"

"The tower, Ma'am."

_Medival room..._

The group was escorted to a large stone room containing high-tech machines. There was a grating through which Lexi could see more of the creatures.

"Doctor, where are we?" Lexi asked looking up and seeing that there were children in this prison like place.

"The lowest point of Starship UK." The spun his arms out. "The dungeon."

A grey haired man appeared. "Ma'am."

"Hawthorne! So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do." The Doctor walked up to Hawthorne.

"There's children down here. What's all that about?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat the children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky." Lexi walked up to Hawthorne. The Doctor looked at her curiously.

"Yeah, look at us. Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky. Except it's not a torture chamber, is it?" Lexi said waving a hand around. The Doctor smiled at that and then looked around examining the equipment.

"Well, it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle." The Doctor and Lexi joined Liz and Amy by an open 'well' with a railing around it. There seemed to be something alive inside.

"What's that?" Luz 10 asked pointing towards that something.

"Well, like I said, depends on the angle. It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly..."

"Or?"

"It it's the gas pedal. The accelerator. Starship UK's go-faster button." Amy said in realization. Liz 10 looked a little confused.

"I don't understand."

"Don't you? Try, go on. The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature... this poor, trapped, terrified creature. It's not infesting you. It's not invading - it's what you have instead of an engine. And this place down here is where you hurt it, where you torture it, day after day, just to keep it moving." An intermitted electrical beam shot down into the creature's exposed brain. "Tell you what," The Doctor moved to another well and lifted the grate. "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing." One of the extensions of the creature broke free. "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear." The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver and everyone else heard the creature's call.

"Stop it!" Liz yelled at Hawthorne. "Who did this?"

"We act on instructions from the highest authority."

"I am the highest authority. The creature will be released, now. I said now!" No one seemed to move. "Is anyone listening to me?" The Doctor still had been holding Liz's mask the whole time.

"Liz. Your mask."

"What about my mask?" The Doctor tossed the mask to her.

"Look at it. It's old. At least 200 years old, I'd say."

"Yeah, it's an antique. So?"

"Yeah, an antique made by craftsmen over 200 years ago and perfectly sculpted to your face. They slowed your body clock, all right, but you're not 50. Nearer 300. And it's been a long old reign."

"Nah, can't be. It's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years."

"Ten years. And the same ten years over and over again." The Doctor took Liz 10's hand and showed her the voting area. "Always leading you... Here." The buttons in front of them read 'forget' and 'abdicate'. Liz turned to Hawthorne.

"What have you done?"

"Only what you have ordered. We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us." Hawthorne turned on the screen. It was a video recording of Liz 10.

_"If you are watching this... if I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower Of London." _The real Liz 10 sat down in the chair. _"The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart."_ The Doctor, Hawthorne, Mandy, Amy and Lexi all watched in silence._ "The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us, and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the 'forget' button."_ Liz looked at the button. _"Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button."_ Liz looked at the other button which said 'abdicate'._ "Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision."_

"I voted for this?" Lexi asked turning to The Doctor. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that. And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know!" Lexi stepped back in shock. He'd never yelled at her angry before. She quickly regained composure.

"I don't even remember doing it!"

"You did it. That's what counts."

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"Oh, I don't care. When I'm done here, you're going home." The Doctor walked say from Lexi. Amy was mad that he was getting mad at Lexi for something she didn't even remember.

"Why?! Because she made a mistake?! One mistake?! She doesn't even remember doing it Doctor!" Amy said in her sister's defense. The Doctor was examining some instrument panels.

"Yeah, I know. She's only human."

"What are you doing?" Liz chimed in looking at The Doctor.

"The worst thing I'll ever do. I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will fly, but the whale won't feel it."

"That'll be like killing it!" Lexi said in protest.

"Look, three options. One: I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two: I kill everyone on this ship. Three: I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, cos I won't be The Doctor anymore."

"There must be something we can do, some other way." Liz 10 said trying to reason.

"Nobody talk to me. Nobody human had anything to say to me today!"

Lexi, Amy and Mandy sat against a wall watching hopelessly as The Doctor worked. Three children entered the room. Mandy seemed to recognize one of them.

"Timmy!" Mandy said running over to him. "You made it, you're okay!" Timmy didn't say anything. "It's me - Mandy." They were stopped in front of one of the 'feelers'. Mandy had her back to it. The feeler reached towards her and Lexi and Amy started to move forward. Instead of hurting her, it gently tapped Mandy on the back and let her pet it. Lexi leaned back onto the wall, closed her eyes and started to piece everything together. Memories started to flash before her eyes.

* * *

><p><em>The Doctor, Amy and Lexi were in the marketplace...<em>

_"C'mon, use your eyes. Notice everything. Notice everything._"

Lexi remembered seeing Mandy crying as she heard parts of Liz 10's explanation.

_"Our children screamed. It came, like a miracle._"

She then could hear Hawthorne's voice.

_"It won't eat the children._"

She could hear Liz's voice again.

_"Children screamed. Then it came. It's the last of its kind._"

Lexi then remembered The Doctor with Mandy, the feelers in the vator shaft, the glasses of water. She then heard The Doctor's voice, then Liz's.

_"Just me now._"

_"The last of its kind._"

Lexi then saw a vision of herself and could hear own voice.

_"Is this how it works, Doctor? Never interfere with other peoples or planets..._"

Liz's voice chimed in again.

_"Children screamed._"

Lexi remembered meeting The Doctor as a child. Then her voice continued.

_"...unless it's children crying._"

Then Liz 10 and The Doctor's voices were heard again.

_"The last of its kind."_

_"Just me now._"

Lexi heard her voice one more time, and then The Doctor's.

_"Unless there's children crying._"

_"Yes._"

Lexi remembered something Hawthorne said.

_"It won't eat the children._"

Lexi remembered seeing some children playing in the marketplace when her and Amy first stepped out of the TARDIS. Then she remembered one last thing. It was something Liz 10 had said.

_"Then it came. Like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales._"

* * *

><p>Lexi's eyes flew open and she could see Mandy and Timmy petting the feeler. Amy looked at her.<p>

"Lexi? Are you okay?"

"Doctor! Stop!" Lexi shouted running over to where The Doctor was. "Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" Lexi grabbed Liz's hand. "Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand." Lexi led her to the buttons.

"Lexi! No! No!" The Doctor rushed over to where Lexi and Liz 10 were, but it was too late. Lexi forced Liz 10's hand down on the 'abdicate' button. The whale bellowed and the whole ship shook, probably causing havoc on every level.

"Lexi, what have you done?!"

"Nothing at all. Am I right?"

"We've increased speed." Hawthorne said in disbelief.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot. Gotta help." Lexi said with a smile.

"It's still here. I don't understand." Liz said a bit confused.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago. It volunteered. You didn't have to trap it or torture it - that was all just you. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry. What if you were really old, and really kind and alone? Your whole race dead, no future. What couldn't you do then? If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind..." Lexi turned and looked at The Doctor straight in the eyes. "you couldn't just stand there and watch children cry."

_Observation deck..._

The Doctor was standing alone looking out onto the starship. Amy and Lexi were standing behind him, but a considerable amount a space was separating them from The Doctor.

"Go on." Amy said to Lexi reassuringly. Lexi smiled at her sister before going to join The Doctor.

"From Her Majesty." Lexi held out Liz 10's mask. "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK."

"Lexi, you could have killed everyone on this ship."

"You could have killed a Star Whale." The Doctor turned towards Lexi.

"And you saved it. I know, I know."

"Amazing, though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery... and loneliness." Lexi then turned sideways to look at The Doctor. "And it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

"YOU couldn't. But I've seen it before. Very old and very kind, and the very, very last. Sound a bit familiar?" The Doctor embraced Lexi in a hug. "Hey."

"What?"

"Gotcha."

"Ha! Gotcha."

_London Market..._

The Doctor, Lexi and Amy headed back to the TARDIS.

"Shouldn't we say goodbye? Won't they wonder where we went?" Amy asked as they approached the TARDIS.

"For the rest of their lives. Oh, the songs they'll write! Never mind them. Big day tomorrow." Amy's eyes widened a little at that.

"Sorry. What?"

"It's always a big day tomorrow. We've got a time machine. I skip the little ones." The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS.

"You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning... Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just... Just because you could?"

"Once... a long time ago."

"What happened?" Lexi asked wondering what secret The Doctor was keeping.

"Hello!" A phone began to ring.

"Right. Doctor, there's something I haven't told you. No. Hang on. Is that a phone ringing?"

They all entered the TARDIS,

"People phone you?" Lexi asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, it's a phone box. Would you mind Lexi?" The Doctor asked as he was preparing for the TARDIS to dematerialize. Lexi complied.

"Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously. Who?" Lexi muffled the phone against her shoulder. "Says he's Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minister?" The Doctor motioned for her to pull a lever. Lexi pulled the lever before speaking into the phone again.

"Er, which Prime Minister?" Lexi looked at The Doctor. "The British one."

"Which British one?" The asked showing Amy a lever to pull down.

"Which British one?" Lexi's eyes widened as she passed the phone to The Doctor. "Winston Churchill for you." The Doctor grabbed the phone.

"Oh! Hello, dear. What's up?"

_Winston Churchill's office..._

"Tricky situation, Doctor. Potentially very dangerous." We see a shadow on the wall that reveals a Dalek. When then hear The Doctor's voice over the phone.

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister."

_Back in the TARDIS..._

"We're on our way."

The TARDIS dematerialized out of the London Market.

Lexi walked over to the doors and opened them to reveal the Starship below them. Lexi started talking almost in a whisper while staring down at the ship.

"In bed above, we're deep asleep. While greater love lies further deep. This dream must end. This world must know. We all depend on the beast below."

The view of the Starship UK changed to reveal the space whale, swimming through the stars.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! I literally worked on it all day. :) I'm really looking forward to writing more. The next chapter shall be _'Victory of the Daleks'_.**

**Please follow! Review! Favorite! Whatever you feel like****! :)**


	6. Victory of the Daleks: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 6: Victory of the Daleks

**A/N: Hello there everyone! This episode will be split into two chapters. I'm not quite sure when I'll get the second part up. I wanted to go ahead and at least post the first part. I would have posted the second part as well, but i accidentally deleted it. Don't worry, I'll get it up as soon as I can. Tell me what you thought of The Christmas Special! I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Anyway, I'm so happy that people are following along and reading this story. I was also happy to see that I've reached over 800 views for the story as well! :) By this time, Amy and Lexi have changed from the incident on the starship. I have described what their outfits look like. I'm sure everyone knows what Amy's outfit looked like in the episode, but to go along with the description of Lexi's outfit, just copy and paste the following url.**

pin/354025220680992341/

**Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! **

"Right then. Are you both ready?" The Doctor asked Lexi and Amy as they entered the console room. They both had finally showered and changed from the incident on Starship UK. Amy was wearing a short blue jean skirt with a navy blue spaghetti strap tank top. The tank top also had another tank top, which was red, over it, but with thicker straps. Everything was pulled together nicely with a brown leather jacket and a pair of brown leather boots. She accented this look with a nice gold watch. Lexi was wearing bright colored peachy orange jeggings with a black and white striped shirt with quarter length sleeves. This was pulled together with a decorative white scarf and beige flats. She too accented this look with a nice gold watch.

"Yeah. Finally." Lexi said as she and Any walked down one of the console room's many staircases.

"Good. Cos we're here!" The Doctor said with a twirl as he headed for the doors.

"You read about these sorts of things in history books, but you never think that you will actually get to see them. I mean come on Lexi. It's Winston Churchill!" Amy said grabbing hold of Lexi's arm in enthusiasm.

"Yes Amy, but then again you never think about meeting someone like me. Now, Cabinet War Rooms. The London Blitz!" The Doctor said as he opened the TARDIS doors and stepped out. The twins followed behind him, but they were met with soldiers and guns pointed at them. After a few seconds, they parted. A man stepped forward.

"Lexi, Amy..." The Doctor held out his arm in introduction. "Winston Churchill." Lexi and Amy looked at Churchill in amazement.

"Doctor? Is it you?"

"Oh Winston, my old friend!" The Doctor went to go shake Churchill's, but Churchill motioned with his hand that he wanted something. "Ah, every time!"

"What's he after?" Lexi asked confused.

"TARDIS key, of course."

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor! The lives that could be saved!"

"Ah, doesn't work like that." The Doctor said as he closed the TARDIS door.

"Must I take it by force?"

"I'd like to see you try."

"At ease." Churchill said to the soldiers for them to lower their guns.

"You rang?" The Doctor asked with a goofy smile.

_Cabinet War Rooms, Corridor..._

The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and Churchill were striding through a corridor as an air raid was happening above. The Doctor had gotten a hold of Churchill's cane.

"So you've changed your face, again."

"Yeah, well, had a bit of work done."

"Got it, got it, got it! Cabinet War Rooms, right?" Amy asked, knowing that she was probably right.

"Yup. Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London."

"You're late, by the way." Churchill said as a reminder. A woman handed Churchill a clipboard and pen.

"Requisitions, sir."

"Excellent."

"Late?" The Doctor asked trying to get Churchill back to what he was just saying.

"I rang you a month ago." Churchill replied as he sign some papers.

"Really? Sorry. Sorry, it's a Type 40 TARDIS. I'm just running her in." Churchill then handed back the clipboard to the woman.

"Something the matter, Breen? You look a little down in the dumps." The woman now known as Breen hugged the clipboard rather tightly.

"No, sir. Fine, sir."

"Action this day, Breen! Action this day!"

"Yes, sir." Breen nodded and forced a smile. She casted a glance towards Lexi and Amy's way before she left.

"Excuse me sir." An officer said to Churchill. "Got another formation coming in, Prime Minister. Stukas, by the look of them."

"We shall go up top then, Group Captain! We'll give'em what for! Coming, Doctor?"

"Why?" The Doctor asked before Churchill snatched back his cane.

"I have something to show you."

The Doctor mouth '_Oooh_' to Amy and Lexi, to which they giggled.

They all got onto a lift. Churchill puffed on his sugar when he started the lift. The Doctor waved the smoke away. Lexi and Amy just stood quietly in the back.

"We stand at a crossroads, Doctor. Quite alone, with our backs to the wall. Invasion is expected daily. So I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace."

"Such as?"

The lift stopped and Churchill opened the gate. "Follow me."

They walked out onto the rooftop. It was day time outside. Amidst sandbags that were on the roof, a man in a white coat was watching the sky with binoculars. The Doctor, Lexi and Amy followed Churchill.

"Wow." The twins said together in amazement.

"Doctor, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell, head of our Ironsides Project."

"How'd you do?" Bracewell waved at them before looking through the binoculars again.

A formation of German planes were approaching. The Doctor, Lexi and Amy walked towards the edge and looked out over London and it's barrage balloons as the bombs dropped.

"Oh, Doctor... Doctor, it's..." Lexi said in amazement.

"History."

"Ready, Bracewell?" Churchill asked the Professor.

"Aye-aye, sir... On my order! Fire!" From within a sandbagged area on the roof, laser beams were fired at the German planes and they were destroyed.

"What was that?" The twins asked in unison.

"That wasn't human, that was never human technology. That sounded like... Show me! Show me what that was!" The Doctor ordered as he climbed a ladder to stand by Bracewell.

"Advance!" Bracewell yelled.

"Our new secret weapon!" Churchill said excitedly.

All of a sudden, a Dalek trundled out. It was painted in Army khaki, a utility belt was around it with a Union Flag under the eyestalk and the lights on top of the dome were covered. The Doctor looked horrified.

"What do you think? Quite something, eh?" Churchill asked proudly.

"What are you doing hear?" The Doctor asked the Dalek.

"I am your soldier."

"What?"

"I am your soldier."

"Stop this. Stop now! You know who I am, you always know."

"Your identity is unknown."

""Perhaps I can clarify things here, this is one of my Ironsides." Bracewell interjected.

"Your what?" The Doctor asked confused.

"You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?" Bracewell asked the Dalek.

"Yes."

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes."

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war!"

_Churchill's office..._

The Doctor was looking at the diagrams and blueprints that clearly show a Dalek.

"They're Daleks! They're called Daleks!"

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Doctor! Look! Blueprints, statistics, field-tests, photographs. He invented them!" Churchill exclaimed.

"Invented them! Oh, no, no, no!" The Doctor said a bit defensively.

"Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fella's a genius."

" A Scottish genius, too. Maybe you should listen to..." Lexi started with Amy standing next to her before The Doctor interrupted her.

"Shh! He didn't invent them! They're alien."

"Alien?" Churchill asked inquisitively.

Just then, a Dalek glided by the open doorway. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder before it continued on.

"And totally hostile!"

"Precisely. They will win me the war!" Churchill then turned over a blueprint to show a propaganda poster with a large Dalek.

_Cabinet War Rooms corridor..._

"Why won't you listen? Why call me in if you won't listen to me?!" The Doctor asked upset.

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts. The Ironsides seemed too good to be true."

"Yes! Right! So destroy them! Exterminate them!"

"But imagine what I could do with a hundred! A thousand!"

"I am imagining." The Doctor said as a courier Dalek passed them. "Lexi, Amy, tell him."

"Tell him what?" The twins asked together.

"About the Daleks!"

"What would we know about the Daleks?"

"Everything. They invaded your world, remember? Planets? Planets in the sky, you don't forget that Ponds... Tell me you both remember the Daleks."

"Nope, sorry."

"That's not possible…"

_Map room…_

Women were manning the radios and moving little Dalek figures on the map as required. Breen was talking into some sort of microphone communicator. She was relaying out some numbers.

"And 6…2357, over! 2357, over!"

A Dalek glided past The Doctor, Amy and Lexi as they entered the room.

"So they're up to something, but what is it? what are they after?" The Doctor asked as if he was deep in thought. Amy and Lexi looked at each other and gave a nod.

"Well, let's just ask, shall we?" The twins asked together.

Amy, Lexi!… Amelie, Alexis!" The Doctor tried to protest, but it was too late.

Amy and Lexi walked over to the Dalek and tapped it on its casing. It swiveled around to focus its eyestalk on them.

"Can I be of assistance?" The Dalek asked. Amy was the first to speak.

"Oh. Yes. Yes! See, our friend reckons you're dangerous. That you're an alien. Is it true?"

"I am your soldier."

TheDoctor was watching this little exchanged thoughtfully. Lexi was the next to speak.

"Yeah. Got that bit. Love a squaddie. What else, though?"

"Please excuse me. I have duties to perform."

The Doctor then went over to Churchill and took a cigar from The Prime Minister's mouth.

"Winston, Winston, please."

"We are waging total war. Doctor! Day after day, the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist."

"Wait till the Daleks get started."

"Men, women and children slaughtered. Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames."

"Yeah? Try the Earth in flames!"

"I weep for my country, I weep weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart." Churchill moved around the table with The Doctor following him.

"But you're resisting, Winston! The whole world knows you're resisting! You're a beacon of hope." Churchill was signing more papers.

"But for how long? Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these ironsides now!" A Dalek glided up to the pair.

"Can I be of assistance?"

"Shut it!" The Doctor shouted at the Dalek and then turned back to Churchill. "Listen to me. Just listen! The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are my oldest and deadliest enemy. You cannot trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favorable reference to the Devil! These machines are our salvation!" While Churchill was talking, a siren sounded. "Oh, the all-clear. We are safe. For now." After that, Churchill just walked away. The Doctor stared at the Dalek before it, too, turned away and left.

'Doctor, it's the all-clear. Are you okay?" Amy asked coming up to The Doctor. The Doctor was now twisting an officer's cap in his hands.

"What does hate look like Amy?"

'Hate?" Lexi asked coming up to the other side of The Doctor.

"It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it." The Doctor tossed the cap before before setting it on a desk. He then just walked out the door. The twins just gave each other a look.

_Bracewell's lab..._

Bracewell was working at his desk while a few technicians were working nearby. A Dalek glided up to him.

"Would you care for some tea?"

"That would be very nice. Thank you."

The Doctor, Lexi and Amy strode in. The Doctor immediately began checking everything out.

"Alright, Prof! The PM's been filling me in. Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. Amazing. You must be very proud of them."

"Just doing my bit."

Lexi went over and picked up a spanner. "Not bad for a Paisley boy." The Doctor sat down on a chair and began to read a file while Amy looked over his shoulder trying to read it too.

"Yes, I thought i detected a familiar cadence, my dear.'

"How did you do it? Come up with the idea?" Lexi asked intrigued.

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

The Doctor tossed the file he and Amy were reading onto the desk behind them. "But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?"

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head! Wonderful things! Like… let me show you." Brace well showed the trio some files. "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight. Gravity bubbles that could sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere! Came to me in the bath!"

'And are these your ideas or theirs?" The Doctor asked skeptically knowing.

"No, no, no, no. These robots are entirely under my control, Doctor. They are…" A Dalek brought Bracewell his tea. "Thank you… the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior."

"I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them! Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!" The Doctor said defensively. Churchill then entered with a Dalek following behind him.

"Yes, Doctor. Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Yes, Winston, and death to everyone else too!" A Dalek came up to The Doctor holding some tea.

"Would you care for some tea?"

The Doctor then flipped the tray and cup, causing them to fall to the floor. "Stop this! What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We seek only to help you."

"To do what?"

"To win the war."

"Really? Which war?"

"I do no understand."

"The war against the Nazis? Or your war? The war against the rest of the Universe? The war against all life-forms that are not Dalek?"

"I do not understand. I am your soldier."

"Oh, yeah? Okay." The Doctor turned around picked up a giant spanner. "Okay, soldier, defend ourself!" The Doctor started to bang the spanner against the Dalek.

"Doctor, what the Devil…?!" Bracewell shouted shocked.

"You do not require tea?" The Doctor asked continuing to strike the Dalek.

"Stop it! Prime Minister, please!"

"Doctor, please, these machines are precious." Churchill said trying to reason.

"Come on! Fight back! You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!" Bracewell shouted defensively.

"What are you waiting for? You hate me. You want to kill me. Well, go on! Kill me. Kill me!" The Doctor said striking the Dalek again.

Amy and Lexi had been watching this exchange the whole time. amy finally decided to try and do something.

"Doctor, be careful!" Amy said pushing him back.

"Please desist from striking me. I am your soldier."

"You are my enemy!" The punctuated the sentence with strikes. "And I am yours! You are everything I despise! The worst thing in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the void! I saved the whole of reality from you! I am The Doctor! And you are the Daleks!" The Doctor kicked the Dalek and it rolled backwards.

"Correct. Review testimony." The Dalek replayed what The Doctor just said.

_"__I am The Doctor. And you are the Daleks!"_

"What are you talking about, testimony?" The Doctor asked angrily confused.

"Transmitting testimony now." said another Dalek in the room.

"Transmit what, where?"

_Space... _

A Dalek spaceship was hiding on the far side of the moon.

_Interior of Dalek spaceship…_

A Dalek had its 'plunger' arm attached to what seemed to be a receiver.

"Progenitor activated. Testimony accepted! Testimony accepted!"

_Bracewell's lab..._

"Testimony accepted!"

"Get back! All of you!' The Doctor commanded everyone. The twins grabbed hold of each other in fear.

"Marines! Marines! Get in here!" Churchill ordered.

Two Marines entered and one of the Daleks shot with their lasers and killed both of them.

"Stop it! Stop it, please! What are doing? You are my Ironsides!" Bracewell shouted in protest.

"We are the Daleks!"

"But I created you!"

"No." The Dalek then went and shot off Bracewell's hand revealing a stump of wires and circuits. "We created you!"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" The Daleks shouted in unison before teleporting away to the ship in space.

"Doctor? What the hell just happened?" Lexi asked finally speaking up.

"I wanted to know what they wanted Lexi, what their plan was. I was their plan!" The Doctor shouted running out of the room.

"Hey!" Amy and Lexi shouted together running after him.

_Cabinet War Rooms storage room..._

The Doctor entered the room and rushed down the stairs towards the TARDIS.

""Testimony accepted!' That's what they said! My testimony." Amy and Lexi were following fast being him.

"Don't beat yourself up. You were right." Amy said defending The Doctor from himself. The Doctor unlocked the TARDIS.

"What do we do? Is this what what we do now? Chase after them?" Lexi asked catching up to her sister.

"This is what I do Ponds. It's dangerous, so wait here."

Churchill came up and stood behind Lexi and Amy.

"What, so you mean we've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?" Lexi asked almost with a laugh.

"Safe as it gets around me." The Doctor said with a wave stepping into the TARDIS.

Lexi, Amy and Churchill watched as the TARDIS dematerialized.

"What does he expect us to do now?" Amy asked with a shocked laugh.

"KBO, of course."

"What?" The twins asked turning their heads around to look at Churchill.

"Keep buggering on!"

_Interior of the TARDIS…_

The Doctor was working the controls. He looked at the monitor. The Dalek ship appeared.

"Bingo!"

_Cabinet War Rooms storage room..._

Breen entered with a communiqué.

"Prime Minister."

"Yes?"

Breen handed Churchill a piece of paper. "Signal from RDF, sir. Unidentified object. Hanging in the sky. Captain Childers says. We can' get a proper fix, though. It's too far up."

"What do you think, Miss Pond and… Miss Pond? The Doctor's in trouble and now we know where he is."

"Yeah. Cos he'll be on that ship, won't he? Right in the middle of everything." Lexi said smiling.

_Rooftop..._

An Air Raid Warden was watching from the rooftop as more bombs fell. Someone violated the blackout.

"Oi! Put that light out!" The light then switched off.

_Dalek spaceship..._

All three Daleks watched as the Progenitor device continued to run its programmed course.

"The final phase commences, channel all reserve power to Progenitor.

The TARDIS materialized and the three Daleks swiveled their top sections to see The Doctor emerge rubbing his hands.

"How about that cuppa now, then?"

"Its The Doctor! Exterminate!"

"Wait, wait, wait, I wouldn't if I were you!" The Doctor pulled out a small round object and held it out in front of him. "TARDIS self-destruct. And you know what that means. My ship goes, you all go with it."

"You would not use such a device."

"Try me." One of the Daleks moved forward. "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No scans! No nothing! One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that? TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks boom!" The Dalek moved back. "Good boy." The Doctor looked at the Daleks' instrument panels. "This ship's pretty beaten up - running on empty, I'd say, like you. were at the end of your rope. Finished."

"One ship survived."

"And you fell back through time, yes? Crippled? Dying?"

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices."

"Progenitor? What's that when it's at home?"

"It is our past. And our future."

"Ohhh, that's deep. That is deep for a Dalek. What does it mean, though?"

"It contains pure Dalek DNA, thousands were created, all were lost, save one."

"Okay, but there's still one thing I don't get, though - if you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?"

"It was… necessary."

?But why? I get it. Oh, I get it! Oh, ho, this is rich! The Progenitor wouldn't recognize you, wouldn't it? It saw you as impure, the DNA is unrecognizable as Dalek."

"A solution was devised."

"Yes, yes, yes. My testimony. So you set a trap, you knew that the Progenitor would recognize me. The Daleks' greatest enemy! It would accept my word. My recognition of you." One of the Daleks turned around to the instrument panel behind it. "No, no, no. What are you doing?" The Doctor held out the round object again.

"Withdraw now, Doctor, or the city dies in flames."

"Who are you kidding? This ship is a wreck, you don't have the power to destroy London."

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves."

_Space..._

The Dalek ship lowered a dish which then collected and sent a stream of energy towards London.

_Rooftop..._

The Warden watched, stunned, as lights came on all over the city.

"What the…? No!"

_Map room..._

One of the officers tried to turn off the lights. "The generator won't switch off! The lights are on all across London, Prime Minister!"

Lexi and amy were looking over a giant map of London.

"Has to be them. Has to be the Daleks." Amy said glancing up from the map.

"The Germans can see every inch of the city. We're sitting ducks. Get those lights out before the Germans get here!"

The officer went to check the generators. Been and some other woman were talking into the radio communicators.

"Confirm, Squadron 244 and 56 mobilized."

"Emergency, emergency. 109? 109, confirm?"

"Thousands will die if we don't get those lights out now!"

"Sir, German bombers sighted over the Channel, ETA 10 minutes, sir."

"Here they come. Get a message to Mr. Atlee. War Cabinet meeting at 0300 - if we're all still here." Lexi finally looked up from the map.

'We can't just sit here! We've got to take the fight to the Daleks!"

'How? None of our weapons are a match for theirs." Churchill said a bit confused.

"Oh, look, we must have something. Oh!… That is good! They helped us. The Daleks helped us… I mean, they didn't know they were helping us. Staring us right in the face! A gift from the Daleks!" Everyone gave Lexi a look trying to understand what she was getting at.


	7. Victory of the Daleks: Part 2

_Dalek spaceship…_

"Turn those lights off now. Turn London off or I swear I will use the TARDIS self-destruct!"

"Stalemate, Doctor. Leave us, and return to Earth."

"Oh, that's it? That's your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again."

"No, no, no! I won't let you get away this time! I won't!"

There was mechanical 'whoosh' and then a soft thrumming.

"We have succeeded - DNA reconstruction is complete."

The Daleks glided back from the cubicle which was enveloped in a red energy. The doors slid open amidst sparks.

"Observe, Doctor, a new Dalek paradigm!"

The Doctor watched as new, larger Daleks emerged from the smoke and steam, each a different color: white, blue, yellow, orange and red.

"The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny. Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"

_Bracewell's lab..._

Bracewell was holding a revolver in his remaining hand and was about to place it to his head when Lexi, Amy and Churchill entered.

"Bracewell! Put the gun down!" Churchill demanded.

"My life is a lie, and I choose to end it."

"In your own time, Paisley boy." Lexi stood next to Bracewell. "because right now we need your help."

"But those creatures... my Ironsides... they made me? I... can remember things, so many things. The last war- The squalor and the mud and the awful, awful misery of it all. What am I? What am I?"

"What you are sir, is either on our side, or theirs. Now, I don't give a damn if you're a machine, Bracewell... Are you a man?"

"Listen to me. I understand. Really, I do." Lexi gently took the gun from Bracewell's hand. Amy looked at her sister proudly. She was probably the most caring person she knew. "Look, there's a spaceship up there lighting up London like a Christmas tree. Thousands of people will die tonight if we don't stop it, and you're the only one who can help take it down."

"I am?"

"You're alien technology. You're as clever as the Daleks are, so start thinking! What about rockets? You got rockets? Cos you said gravity whatsits, hypersonic flight, some kind missile."

"This isn't a fireworks party, Miss Pond! We need tactical... A missile... or...?"

"Or what?" Amy asked wondering.

"We could send something up there, you say?"

"With a gravity bubble, yes." Bracewell showed Churchill the plans. "Theoretically it's possible we could send something into space."

"Bracewell... It's time to think big!"

_Space..._

The beam from the Dalek ship was still firing on London.

_Dalek spaceship..._

"All hail the new Daleks! All hail the new Daleks!"

"Yes, you are inferior!" The new white Dalek exclaimed.

"Yes."

"Then prepare."

"We are ready!"

"Cleanse the unclean! Total obliteration! Disintegrate!"

The blue Dalek fired upon two of the original Daleks and the red Dalek shot the other original Dalek.

"Blimey, what do you do to the ones who mess up?" The Doctor asked a bit stunned at what just happened.

"You are The Doctor! You must be exterminated!"

The Doctor pulled out the TARDIS self-destruct. "Don't mess with me, sweetheart!"

_Map room..._

Breen and others were on their radio headphones, maneuvering representations of flying squadrons. Dust fell from the ceiling as the city above them was being bombed.

"Advancing bombers approaching in strike formation. Incendiary bombs have hit the East End of London."

Bracewell, his arm in a sling, entered with a device on a wheeled office chair. He also had a homemade headset on.

"At last! Are they ready?" Churchill asked with anticipation.

"I hope so. But in the meantime..." He placed a device on the desk. It had a screen with control knobs. "This will pick up Dalek transmissions." Bracewell slapped the side.

The Doctor and the white Dalek appeared on the small black and white screen. The white Dalek could be heard over the receiver.

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race."

"It's him! It's the Doctor!" The twins exclaimed in unison.

"Scientist, Strategist..."

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme."

"Which would be you, I'm guessing? Well, you know, nice paint job. I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty 'Supreme'."

_Map room..._

"He's got company. New company. We've got to hurry up!" Lexi yelled.

A phone rang and Bracewell answered.

"Yes? Right! Right, thanks!" He hung up the phone. "Ready when you are, Prime Minister."

"Splendid!"

A ship appeared on the screen before Bracewell spoke.

"Spaceship's exact co-oridinates located!"

"Go to it, Group Captain! Go to it!" Churchill commanded.

"Broadsword to Danny Boy! Broadsword to Danny Boy! Scramble! Scramble! Scramble!"

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Question is, what do we do now? Either you turn off your clever machine or I'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity." The Doctor said while the blue Dalek scanned him.

"And yourself?" The white Dalek asked.

"Occupational hazard."

"Scan reveals nothing! TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent!"

"Alright." The Doctor bit the cookie. "It's a Jammy Dodger, but I was promised tea!"

A siren sounded and the blue Dalek went to go check the scanner.

"Alert! unidentified projectile approaching!" The Doctor looked at a second scanner. "Correction. Multiple projectiles!"

"What have the humans done?"

"I don't know." The Doctor said honestly.

"Explain! Explain! Explain!"

A voice could be heard over the radio.

"Danny Boy to The Doctor! Danny Boy to The Doctor! Are you receiving me? Over."

The Doctor looked up.

"Oh, Winston! You beauty!"

_Space..._

The RAF had sent up fighter planes to attack the Dalek ship.

"Danny Boy to The Doctor! Come in. Over."

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Loud and clear, Danny Boy! Big dish, side of the ship, blow it up! Over."

"Exterminate The Doctor!"

The Doctor escaped to the TARDIS as the Daleks fired.

_Map room..._

"You heard him, Group Captain! Target that dish! Send in all we've got!"

Lexi and Amy watched the action on the screen of Bracewell's receiver.

_Space, alongside 'Danny Boy'..._

The Group Captain talked over the radio.

"4-4 to Danny Boy, target the dish and stop that signal."

"Over. Understood, sir. Over."

_Map room..._

The pilot could be heard over the radio.

"You can count on us! Over."

"Oh, good luck, lads!" The woman standing next to Breen said encouragingly.

_Space..._

"Cover my back, going in close!" The Dalek ship fired back. "Pull out, pull out."

One of the RAF planes was shot down.

_Map room..._

Everyone possible was gathered around the screen listening in.

"We've lost Jubilee, sir! Over." The pilot exclaimed over the radio.

Breen was looking on in worry.

"Beam still active, sir." The Group Captain informed.

"Then send them in again!" Churchill ordered.

_Space..._

The planes regrouped and attacked again.

"Flintlock's down sir, and the dish seems to be protected. Over."

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Shields intact, pulse still active." The blue Dalek informed.

_Space..._

"Danny Boy to The Doctor... only me left now."

_Inside the TARDIS..._

The pilot was heard over the radio.

"Anything you can do, sir? Over."

The Doctor picked up a small microphone and spoke into it.

"The Doctor to Danny Boy... The Doctor to Danny Boy."

_Space..._

The Doctor was heard over the radio.

"I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."

"Good show. Doctor, go to it. Over."

_Inside of the TARDIS..._

The Doctor started the TARDIS...

_Map room..._

The pilot was heard over the radio.

"Going in, wish me luck. Over."

_Space..._

'Danny Boy' made another approach.

_Inside the TARDIS..._

The Doctor frantically worked the controls.

_Dalek spaceship.._

_"_Shields de-activated!" The yellow Dalek exclaimed.

_Space..._

'Danny Boy' destroyed the beam.

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Energy pulse destroyed!" The red Dalek yelled angrily.

_Map room..._

"Direct hit, sir!" The Group Captain informed.

Everyone cheered.

_Rooftop..._

The Warden watched as the lights went out and sighed in relief.

"Thank the Lord!" He raised his fist to the sky. "Do your worst, Adolf!"

_Space..._

"Danny Boy to The Doctor... going in for another attack."

_Inside the TARDIS..._

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over."

_Space..._

"What about you, Doctor?"

_Inside the TARDIS..._

"I'll be okay."

The whit Dalek appeared on the TARDIS monitor.

"Doctor! Call off your attack!"

"Ah-ha, what? And let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear. This is the end for you. The final end!"

"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."

"I'm not stupid, mate! You've just played your last card!"

"Bracewell is a bomb."

"You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body. There isn't even a bone in your body!"

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum! Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android."

"No! This is my best chance ever! The last of the Daleks! I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below! The Earth will die screaming!"

"And if I let you go, you'll be stronger than ever. A new race of Daleks."

"Then choose, Doctor! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum! Choose, Doctor! Choose! Choose!"

The Doctor picked up the microphone.

"The Doctor to Danny Boy. The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw."

_Space..._

"Say again, sir. Over."

_Inside the TARDIS..._

"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out."

_Space..._

"But sir... !"

"There's no time, you have to return to Earth now! Over!"

_Inside the TARDIS..._

The Doctor set the controls for Earth.

_Space..._

_'_Danny Boy' flew back to Earth.


	8. Victory of the Daleks: Part 3

_Storage room..._

The TARDIS materialized and The Doctor exited and ran out of the room.

_Dalek spaceship..._

"The Doctor has failed. His compassion is his greatest weakness. Daleks have no such weakness."

_Map room..._

The Doctor ran in and punched Bracewell, knocking him to the ground. The Doctor shook his hand in pain.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled appalled.

"Ow! Sorry, Professor. You're a bomb! An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."

"What?" Bracewell asked confused.

"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you - a captured wormhole that provides perpetual power. Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension!" The Doctor knelt down beside Bracewell, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and opened Bracewell's shirt. "Now keep down!" The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to reveal mechanics underneath Bracewell's skin.

_Dalek spaceship..._

"Detonation sequence activated. Time corridor establishing..."

"Time jump in thirty rels!"

_Map room..._

There was a circular pad divided into sections glowing blue on Bracewell's chest. One section turned yellow.

"Well?" Amy asked in anticipation.

"I dunno, I dunno, I dunno!" The Doctor shook the sonic. "Never seen one up close before!"

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Lexi asked trying to put things together.

"Not wired him up! He is a bomb. Walking, talking," The Doctor made some explosions noises with his mouth. "exploding! The moment that flashes red."

"There's... a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire... Or a red one."

"You're not helping!"

"It's incredible. He talked to us about his memories. The Great War..." Churchill started.

The was now standing and tossing the sonic from one hand to the other.

"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain. Tell me about it, Bracewell! Tell me about your life!" The Doctor knelt back down.

"Doctor, I really don't think this is the time!"

"Tell me and prove you're human. Tell me everything."

_Dalek spaceship..._

Five sections of the 'click' were showing red.

"Countdown proceeding."

_Map room..._

One section of Bracewell's chest was red and the second yellow.

"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey. Just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but... but there was a storm." Bracewell was explaining.

"Any your parents? Come on! Tell me!" The Doctor was trying to hurry Bracewell.

"Goo people. Kind people. They... They died... Scarlet fever."

"What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please..."

"How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me! Tell me now!"

"It hurt! It hurts, Doctor, so badly. Like a wound." The second section turned red and the third, yellow. "It was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing."

"Good. Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad and losing them and men in the trenches you saw die... Remember it! Feel it, because you're human." The third section turned red. "You're not like them. You are not like the Daleks!"

"It hurts! Doctor, it hurts so much!"

"Good! Good! Good! Brilliant! Embrace it." The fourth section turned red. "That means you're alive! They cannot explode that bomb, you're a human being! You are flesh and blood! They cannot explode that bomb! Believe it! Your are Professor Edwin Bracewell! And you, my friend, are a human being!" The fifth section turned red. "It's not working, I can't stop it!"

Lexi went and knelt beside Bracewell.

"Hey... Paisley. Ever fancied someone you know you probably shouldn't?" Amy looked on at her sister with a sad smile. She had a feeling she knew who she was talking about.

"W... What?"

"Hurts, doesn't it?" The last section remained yellow. "But kind of a good hurt."

"I really shouldn't talk about her."

"Oh. There's a her." The last section reverted to blue.

"What was her name?" The Doctor asked sincerely.

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella? It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name."

"What was she like, Edwin?" Lexi asked kindly.

"Oh... Such a smile. And her eyes... Her eyes were so blue... Almost violet. Like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world... Dorabella..." All the sections reverted to blue, disarming the bomb.

_Dalek spaceship..._

The countdown reverted to zero as all the sections went white and shut down.

"Oblivion Continuum... inactive."

"Impossible!"

"Time jump imminent! Prepare!"

_Map room..._

"Welcome to the human race." The Doctor smiled at Lexi and then turned to Amy and Churchill. "You're brilliant." The Doctor then turned to Bracewell. "You're brilliant... And you..." The Doctor turned to Lexi and kissed her on the forehead and then stood up. "Now, gotta stop them! Stop the Daleks!" The Doctor ran out of the room.

"Wait! Doctor! Wait... Wait." The Doctor stopped as Bracewell sat up. "It's too late."

_Space..._

The Dalek ship used some sort of warp drive and escaped.

_Map room.._

"Gone. They've gone."

"No, no, no! They can't! They can't have got away from me again!"

"No, I can feel it, my mind is clear. The Daleks have gone."

The Doctor leaned against a pole, feeling all his energy suddenly drained.

"Doctor. It's okay! You did it. You stopped the bomb. Doctor?"

"I had a choice, Amy. And they knew I'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won. They beat me. They've won."

"But you saved the Earth. Not too shabby, it is...?" Lexi asked trying to be positive.

The Doctor looked at Churchill and all the people in the room who all looked back at him in support.

"Is it?" The twins asked together.

"No." The Doctor smiled slowly. "It's not too shabby."

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friend. Here, have a cigar!" Churchill offered.

"No..." The Doctor waved it off, still hurt from his loss.

_Rooftop..._

The Warden and a group of Marines raised the Union Flag.

_Map room..._

"So, what now, then?" Amy asked curiously.

"I still have a war to run, Miss Pond." Churchill replied.

A woman handed Churchill a communiqué. "Prime Minister."

"Oh, thank you." Churchill read the document. "They hit the Palace and St Paul's again. Fire crews only just saved it."

Breen entered crying.

"Is she okay?" Lexi asked walking up next to Churchill.

"What?"

"She looks very upset."

"Oh, Miss Breen? Her young man didn't make it, I'm afraid. Just got word. Shot down over the channel."

"Where's The Doctor?" Amy asked wondering.

"Tying up loose ends, Pond." The Doctor said entering the room. "I've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in."

"Won't you reconsider, Doctor? Those Spitfires would win me the war in 24 hours!"

"Exactly." The Doctor said taking a sip of his tea.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"

"Oh, it doesn't work like that, Winston. It's gonna be tough. There are terrible days to come. The darkest days. But you can do it. You know you can."

"Stay with us, and help us win though! The world needs you."

"The world doesn't need me."

"No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill." The Doctor made s victory sign.

"It's been a pleasure, as always."

"Too right."

The men embraced each other.

"Goodbye, Doctor."

"Oh, shall we say adieu?" The Doctor asked as they ended the hug.

"Indeed. Goodbye, Miss Pond and... Miss Pond."

"Oh please, call us Amy and Lexi." The twins insisted together.

"Ha! Do you two always talk at the same time?"

"You get used to it." The Doctor chimed in.

"It's... It's been amazing. Meeting you." Amy said as she gave Churchill a farewell hug before going and standing next to The Doctor.

"I'm sure it has!"

Lexi gave Churchill a kiss on the cheek as a goodbye. Churchill started to head for the door...

"Oi, Churchill!" Lexi held out her hand. "TARDIS key. The one you just took from The Doctor."

The Doctor nearly choked on his tea. He patted his pocket to find the key no longer there.

"Oh, she's good, Doctor. As sharp as a pin!" Churchill handed Lexi the key. "Almost as sharp as me!" Churchill lit his cigar. "KBO!"

After Churchill left, The Doctor held out his hand and Lexi gave the key back.

_Bracewell's lab..._

Bracewell stood stoically in his office, waiting for the inevitable. He now had a leather glove over the stump. The Doctor, Lexi and Amy entered.

"I've been expecting you. Doctor. I knew this moment had to come."

"Moment?"

"It's time to de-activate me."

"Is it...?" Lexi and Amy looked at The Doctor. "Oh... yeah."

"You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pattering around."

"No, you're dead right, Professor. 100% right. And by the time I get back here in... what, ten minutes?"

"More like 15." The twins said together.

"Fifteen minutes, yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do. You are going to be so de-activated. It's going to be like you've never even been... activated."

"Yeah." Amy said agreeing.

"15 minutes?"

"More like 20, if I'm honest. Once the Ponds and I see to the urgent thing..."

"Yes!" Lexi and Amy exclaimed in unison.

"... we've got to see to. The... the... See?"

"Very well, Doctor. I shall wait here and prepare myself."

Lexi leaned over and whispered to The Doctor. "That Dalek tech's a little bit slow on the uptake." She stood back up straight. "That thing we've got to do. Gonna take half an hour, realistically, isn't it, Doctor?"

"Easily! So no running off, that's what I'm saying. Don't go trying to find that little Post Office the ash trees or that girl... What was her name?"

"Dorabella."

"Dorabella. On no account go looking for her. Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour."

Bracewell smiled and laughed as he realized what The Doctor was doing.

"Thank you, thank you, Doctor!"

"Come along, Ponds!"

The Doctor, Amy and Lexi left and Bracewell began to pack a suitcase.

_Storage room..._

The Doctor, Amy and Lexi were heading for the TARDIS.

"So, you have enemies then?" Amy asked interested.

"Everyone's got enemies."

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell. You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."

The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS.

"Suppose so."

"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous." Lexi said finally speaking up.

"Yup. Very. Is that a problem?"

"We're still here, aren't we? You're worried about the Daleks."

"I'm always worried about the Daleks."

"It'll take time, though, won't it? There's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up." Amy said trying to reason.

"It's not that. There's something else. Something we've forgotten. Or rather the two of you have."

"Us?" The twins asked confused.

"You didn't know them, Amy, Lexi. You'd never seen them before. And you should have done. You should."

The Doctor entered the TARDIS leaving a confused pair of twins to follow. After the TARDIS dematerialized, you could see a crack in the wall, the exact same shape as the crack in Lexi and Amy's room when they were children. There was a light spilling out from it.

**A/N: There you have it. :) I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry it took me a little bit. I was babysitting my little cousins this weekend. I could only write after they went to bed. Anyway, next chapter shall be ****_'The Time of Angels'_****!**

_P__**.S.- Thanks to all who are favoriting and following this story! It really means a lot to know that I'm writing a story that people actually are enjoying reading! :)**_


	9. The Time of Angels: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 9: The Time of Angels

**A/N: HELLO! Sorry I've not updated for a while. I've been back at school and the teachers insist on giving us unnecessarily large amounts of work to do. **

**Also, here's the url for**** Lexi's outfit.**

pin/7318418117800205/

**We all know that Amy was wearing something new in ****_The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, _****so that means Lexi's changed too. Instead of me having to describe what Lexi's outfits look like every time she and Amy have something new on, I'll just put the url in the AN. That doesn't mean I won't do it occasionally. I don't think I need to describe Amy's outfits either, seeing that all of you probably already know. :)**

**So, without further adieu...**

It was a beautiful day with the sun shining from a clear, blue sky. There was a birdsong as a young man spun slowly in the middle of a field. His eyes had a glassy, drugged appearance and there was an imprint of a kiss in red lipstick just above his lips on the right side. He was then approached by three men, two were armed and the third was an older man in an evening jacket.

"It's a beautiful day." Said the young man.

The older man used his handkerchief to wipe at the lipstick.

The sunny field disappeared to reveal that the men were actually in a corridor on a ship.

"Hallucinogenic lipstick. She's here." The older man said before turning around and walking away.

_Some other corridor on the ship._..

A woman strode along the corridor in red high heels, her black dress was swirling at her ankles. She stopped in front of a door, pulling a gun from her small bag, she fired out the lock of the door. The door slid open to reveal a black cube with a hole through the center. She tilted the cube so the top was facing towards her. She changed the setting on the gun, making it a blow torch and began to write on the cube.

-12,000 YEARS LATER-

_Museum_...

The museum looked like it was based on the plans of a medieval church. The Doctor strode through, pointing at the displays and was giving his opinion. Amy and Lexi followed behind him.

"Wrong! Wrong! Bit right, mostly wrong. I love museums." The Doctor said happily.

"Yeah, great. Can we go to a planet now? Big spaceship, Churchill's bunker...?" Amy said trying to come up with more examples.

"Yeah. You promised us a planet next." Lexi said in agreement with her sister.

"Ponds, this isn't any old asteroid. It's the Delerium Archive, final resting place of the headless monks, the biggest museum ever."

"You've got a time machine, what do you need museums for?" Amy asked confused.

"Wrong! Very wrong! Oooh, one of mine. Also one of mine." The Doctor peered into a display case.

"Oh, I see..." Lexi said looking over at Amy and raising her eyebrows at her until she saw the look on Amy's face saying that she figured it out.

"It's how you keep score." The twins said together.

Something in the next display case caught The Doctor's eye. It was an antique version of the box that the woman had on the ship. Intrigued, The Doctor looked at the top which bore strange symbols.

"Oh great, an old box." Lexi said rolling her eyes.

"It's from one of the old starliners. A Home Box." The Doctor replied.

"What's a home box?" Amy asked wondering.

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes. Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home, with all the flight data."

"So?" The twins asked together.

"The writing, the graffiti - Old High Galifreyan. The lost language of The Time Lords... There were days, there were many days, these words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple Gods."

"What does it say?" Lexi asked growing more and more intrigued.

"Hello, sweetie..."

_Ship corridor_...

A door slid open to reveal the woman from before was RIVER SONG! She looked straight into a security camera and winked before walking away.

_Museum_...

Alarm bells rang as The Doctor ran through the museum, the home box tucked under his arm. Lexi and Amy were racing behind him. They all rushed into the TARDIS as two guards chased after them.

_Inside the TARDIS_...

The Doctor hooked up the home box to the console.

"Why are we doing this?" Lexi asked a little out of breath from the running.

"Cos someone on a spaceship 12,000 years ago is trying to attract my attention. Let's see if we can get the security playback working."

Grainy black and white footage of River winking at the camera appeared on the monitor. It then switched to River with her back to the camera facing a door. A man's voice could be heard over the receiver.

"The party's over, Doctor Song... Yet still your on board."

"Sorry, Alistair. I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you all know what's down there? Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination."

"Wait till she runs. Don't make it look like an execution." Alistair said to some guards that were with him.

"Triple-seven, five... slash, three, four, nine by ten."

The Doctor and the twins all exchanged a look while still listening to the monitor.

"Zero, twelve, slash, acorn... Oh, and I could do with an air corridor."

"What was that, what did she say?" Lexi asked confused.

"Co-ordinates!" The Doctor said excitedly.

_Ship's corridor_...

"Like I said on the dance floor, you might want to find something to hang on to!"

A timer began to beep frantically, Alistair realized what was about to happen and grabbed hold of one of the pipes on the wall. The two guards did the same. River blew a kiss just before the door behind her blew open and she was carried into space - and directly to the TARDIS as it materialized,

_Inside the TARDIS_...

The Doctor let out a 'whoop' before running to open the TARDIS doors. He reached out and pulled River in, but they both landed on the floor with River on top.

"Doctor?" Lexi and Amy both asked together.

"River?" The Doctor asked looking at River before they both stood up to watch the ship fly away.

"Follow that ship." River said pointing.

_Space_...

The TARDIS was following the spaceship.

_Inside the TARDIS_...

The Doctor and River were both working the controls while Amy and Lexi stood back watching them. River had taken off her heels and was barefoot.

"Who do you think she is?" Amy asked whispering to her sister.

"I don't know... and I don't like not knowing." Lexi replied with her arms crossed.

"They've gone into warp drive, we're losing them! Stay close!" River yelled to The Doctor.

"I'm trying!"

"Use the stabilizers."

"There aren't any stabilizers!"

"The blue switches!"

"The blue ones don't do anything, they're just... blue."

"Yes, they're blue. They're the blue stabilizers!" River used the stabilizers and the TARDIS became quiet. "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it? They're boring-ers. They're blue boring-ers."

"Doctor, how come she can fly the TARDIS?" Amy asked in a curious tone.

"You call that flying the TARDIS? Ha!" The Doctor sat on the jump seat to sulk.

"Okay, I've mapped the probability vectors, done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and parked us right along side." River said showing off a little.

"Parked us? We haven't landed." The Doctor said a bit sarcastically.

"Of course we've landed. I just landed her."

"But it didn't make the noise."

"What noise?"

"You know, the..." The Doctor made the TARDIS wheezing sound, which made Amy and Lexi giggle.

"It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on."

"Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise, I love that noise." Lexi said in a defending tone.

"Thank you, Lexi." The Doctor said appreciatively. "Now, come along, Ponds, let's have a look."

"No, wait! Environment checks." River exclaimed.

"Oh, yes, sorry! Quite right. Environment checks." The Doctor stuck his head out the door. "Nice out."

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt. There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest..."

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System. Oxygen-rich atmosphere, toxins in the soft band, 11-hour day, and..." The Doctor stuck his head out the door again. "chances of rain later."

River looked over at the twins. "He thinks he's so hot when he does that."

"... Maybe just a tad." River and Amy looked at Lexi. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. The Doctor walked back up and joined them at the console. "Anyway... How come you can fly the TARDIS?... River, was it?" Lexi said, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best."

"Well, yeah." The Doctor said smugly.

"It's a shame you were busy that day." River replied picking up her red heels. "Right then, why did they land here?" River wondered while heading for the door.

"They didn't land." The Doctor corrected.

"Sorry?" River asked confused.

"You should've checked the Home Box - it crashed." The Doctor said following River.

River stepped outside and The Doctor closed the door behind her before heading back to the console.

"Explain! Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?" Amy asked coming up beside The Doctor.

"It's a long story and I don't know most of it. Off we go!" The Doctor said working the controls.

"What are you doing?" Lexi asked popping up on the other side of The Doctor startling him a bit.

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go."

"Are you basically running away?" Lexi asked brushing her hand against the console as she started to walk around it.

"Yep."

"Why?" Amy asked wondering.

"Cos she's the future, my future."

"Can you run away from that?" Lexi asked pointedly while still walking around the console.

"I can run away from anything I like, Lexi. Time is not the boss of me."

"Hang on." Amy said stopping Lexi by putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked her sister in the eyes while continuing to talk to The Doctor. "Is that a planet out there?" She asked giving her sister a knowing look. It took Lexi a second before her face spread into a wide grin.

"Yes, of course it's a planet."

"You promised us a planet." Amy said. She and Lexi both turned to look at The Doctor.

"Five minutes?" Lexi and Amy asked together.

"OK, five minutes!" The Doctor said finally giving in.

"Yes!" The twins exclaimed with exciting heading for the door.

"But that's all, cos I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything!" The Doctor said while following Amy and Lexi to the door.

_Beach (Day)_...

The ship they were following had crashed on top of a very large and very old stone structure. It was burning in areas and bits of debris had fallen to the ground around the TARDIS. The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and River stood there, looking up at it.

"What caused it to crash? Not me." River said, sure of herself.

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it. According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase-shift. No survivors." The Doctor said a bit gloomily.

"A phase-shift would have to be sabotage. I did warn them."

"About what?"

"Well, at least the building was empty. Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries." River said as she began to key something into a handheld device. The Doctor walked back over to Amy and Lexi.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Amy asked gesturing between herself and Lexi.

"Right. Amy and Lexi Pond, Professor River Song."

River turned to face them. "Ahhh, I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" River asked with a smirk. The Doctor winced at his slip up. "How exciting!" River let out a little chuckle. "Spoilers!" She turned her attention back to what she was doing.

"Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that? She just left you a note in a museum!" Lexi asked a bit exasperated. The Doctor just walked off. River came up to stand beside the twins.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum: The Home Box of a category four starliner and, sooner or later, him. It's how he keeps score."

"We know." Amy and Lexi said laughing together.

"It's hilarious, isn't it?"

"Ha-ha-ha." The Doctor came up behind them with a sarcastic laugh. "I'm nobody's taxi service." The sonic said looking at River. "I'm not gonna be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."

"And you are so wrong. There's one survivor. There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die. Now he's listening!" River started talking into her device. "You lot in orbit yet?... Yeah, I saw it land... I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal." River said holding up the device. "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon."

The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver, and used it on River's communication device. She dropped a small curtesy as a thank you.

"Ooh, Doctor! You soniced her!" The twins laughed together. While The Doctor just gave them a look saying, '_Shut it_'.

"We have a minute." River said calling over to The Doctor. "Shall we?" She opened her diary. "Where were we up to? Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

"What's the book?" Amy asked looking at The Doctor.

"Stay away from it." The Doctor said before turning around to look at Lexi.

"What are you looking at me for?" Lexi asked innocently.

"Well, I assume you're going to ask me something now. That's usually how it goes with you and Amy. You both stand on either side of me, asking questions one after another. Come on, I know you have a question." The Doctor said with a smug grin.

Lexi smiled in return. "Oh alright. What is the book? For real?"

"Haha,... Her diary."

"Our diary." River corrected.

"Her past, my... future. Time travel. We keep meeting in the wrong order."

Four columns of swirling 'dust' appeared then turned into four soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms. One of the soldiers approached River,

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song."

"No. I promised you the equivalent of an army. This is The Doctor." The Doctor gave a lighthearted salute to that.

"Father Octavian, sir." The soldier said while shaking The Doctor's hand. "Bishop, second class. 20 clerics at my command. The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation. Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

"Doctor, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

The Doctor faced River quickly and became immediately tense.


	10. The Time of Angels: Part 2

_Beach (Night)_...

A transport ship had arrived and the soldiers had already set up camp. Octavian strode across the ground followed by The Doctor, Amy and Lexi.

"The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship. Our mission is to get inside and neutralize it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drives. According to this," Octavian showed a handheld device. "behind the cliff face, there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple. We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up."

"Oh, good." The Doctor a little bit pleased.

"Good, sir?" Octavian asked confused.

"Catacombs, probably dark ones. Dark catacombs, great!"

"Technically, I think it's called a maze of the dead."

"You can stop anytime you like."

"Father Octavian?" One of the soldiers called over Octavian.

"Excuse me, sir."

The Doctor waved off Octavian as he left. He then used the sonic on some of the equipment set up on the table.

"You're letting people call you 'sir'. You never do that." Lexi said sitting on the table.

"So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?" Amy asked sitting on the other side of the table.

"Now that's interesting..." The Doctor said looking back and forth between the twins. "You're both still here. Which part of 'Wait in the TARDIS till I tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

"Ooh, are you all Mr. Grumpy Face today?" Lexi asked in a patronizing tone.

"A Weeping Angel, Ponds, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and one is trapped inside that wreckage and I'm supposed to climb in with a screwdriver and a torch-and assuming I survive the radiation, and the whole ship doesn't blow up in my face-do something clever which I haven't actually thought of yet. That's my day, that's what I'm up to. Any questions?" He looked at the twins expectantly. Amy was the first to speak up.

"Is River Song your wife? Cos she's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you, I've never seen anyone do that." Amy looked over at Lexi as if waiting for her to speak, which she did.

"Yeah, Amy's right. She's kinda like, you know, 'Heel boy!' She's Mrs. Doctor from the future, isn't she? Is..." Lexi had a little trouble asking this next question, she wasn't quite sure why. "Is she gonna be your wife one day?"

"Yes. You're right... I am definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today."

"Doctor? Doctor!" River called over from the transport.

"Oops! Her indoors!" Amy exclaimed teasingly.

"Father Octavian!" River called for Octavian to come along also.

The Doctor, Octavian, Amy and Lexi made their way to the transport ship.

"Why do they call him Father?" Amy asked curiously.

"He's there Bishop, they're his clerics. It's the 51st Century, the Church has moved on."

_Inside The Transport Ship_...

On a screen there was black and white footage of a Weeping Angel, it's body was at an angle, and its hands were over its eyes. River was controlling the video with a remote.

"What do you think? It's from the security cameras in the Byzantium vault. I ripped it when I was on board. Sorry about the quality. It's four seconds. I've put it on a loop."

"Yeah, it's an Angel. Hands covering it's face." The Doctor confirmed.

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian asked a bit surprised.

"Once, on Earth, a long time ago. But those were scavengers, barely surviving."

"It's just a statue." Lexi said trying to reason.

"It's a statue when you see it." River started to explain.

"Where did it come from?" The Doctor asked wanting know.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since, dormant all that time."

"There's a difference between dormant and patient."

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy asked speaking up.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen. So legend has it." River started, but was cut off by The Doctor.

"No, it's not a legend, it's a quantum lock. In the sight of any living creature, the Angels literally cease to exist. They're just stone. The ultimate defense mechanism."

"What, being a stone?" Lexi asked confused.

"Being a stone... until you turn your back."

_Beach (Night)_...

The Doctor led the others out of the transport.

"The hyperdrive would've split on impact. The whole ship will be flooded with radiation, cracked electrons, gravity storms, deadly to almost any living thing." The Doctor explained.

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked.

"Dinner to an Angel. The longer we leave it, the stronger it will grow. Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

River was reading her handheld. "The Aplans. The indigenous life form. They died out 400 years ago."

"200 years later, the planet was terraformed. Currently there are six billion human colonists." Octavian said explaining.

"You lot, you're everywhere! Like rabbits! I'll never get done saving you." The Doctor exclaimed complaining a little.

"Sir, if there's is a clear and present danger to the local population..."

"Oh, there is. Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

"Verger, how we doing with those explosives? Dr. Song, with me."

"Two minutes. Sweetie, I need you." River said calling over from where she was.

The Doctor mouthed 'Sweetie' to himself, but then realized River meant him and went to her. Amy and Lexi stood in the transport entry.

"Anybody need us?" Amy yelled out.

"Nobody?" Lexi called crossing her arms in frustration before she and Amy walked back into the transport ship.

_Inside the transport ship_...

Lexi and Amy moved forward, entranced by the Angel on the screen. Since the last they had looked, it had moved its hands away from it face.

_Beach (Night)_...

River was showing The Doctor a book.

"I found this. Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages."

The Doctor quickly flipped through the book finishing it. "Not bad, but slow in the middle, didn't you hate his girlfriend? No, hang on, wait, wait!" He then proceeded to sniff the book.

Lexi popped her head out of the transport ship. "Dr. Song? Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

"No, just the four seconds."

Lexi looked puzzled for a moment and then walked back inside.

"This book is wrong! What's wrong with this book, it's wrong."

_Inside the transport ship_...

Lexi rejoined Amy and looked at the video again. The Angel was now facing forward, hands down at its sides.

"Did you see it move, Amy?" Lexi asked.

"No, I just turned away for a second and then found it like that." Amy responded.

Lexi tilted her head and then bent down to peer closely at the time code. It looped from 11:24 to 11:28 yet the position of the Angel changes. Engrossed, Amy and Lexi didn't notice the door close and lock behind them.

_Beach (Night)_...

River observed The Doctor as he examined the book.

"Oh, it's so strange when you go all baby-face. How early is this for you?" She asked holding her journal.

"Very early." The Doctor responded not even looking at her.

"So you don't know who I am yet?"

"How do you know who I am? I don't always look the same."

"I've got pictures of all your faces. You never show up in the right order though. I need the spotter's guide."

"Pictures? Why aren't there pictures?" The Doctor asked complaining flipping through the book some more.

_Inside the transport ship_...

Amy picked up the remote for the video and tried to turn it off, but it kept coming back on. She handed the remote to Lexi, who tried to do the same thing. When it didn't work Lexi set the remote down and peered at the screen.

"You're just a recording." Lexi said in denial.

"You can't move." Amy said in the exact same way.

They both looked away for a second to unplug the power source, but when they looked back, the Angel's face was close to the camera. They both backed away to the door.

"Doctor!" They screamed in unison.

They both tried to open the door. The door wouldn't budge. Lexi looked back at the screen while Amy kept trying to open the door. The Angel had its mouth open in full predatory mode.

"Doctor!" Lexi screamed even louder this time.

_Beach (Night)_...

"This whole book - it's a warning, about the Weeping Angels. So why no pictures? Why not show us what to look out for?" The Doctor rattled off questions.

"There was a bit about images." River supplied.

"Yes! Hang on..." The Doctor flipped through the book again. "'That which holds the image of an angel becomes itself an angel.'" The Doctor read from a page.

_Inside the transport ship_...

Amy looked at the screen as Lexi looked back to the door. In that tiny little moment, it had moved again. Lexi looked back at the screen while trying to open the door.

"Doctor!" The twins screamed together.

_Beach (Night)_...

"What does that mean? 'An image of a Angel becomes itself an Angel." River asked curiously.

_Inside transport ship_...

Lexi and Amy looked to see an image of the Angel becoming solid in the center of the transport.

"Doctor! It's in the room!" Lexi yelled out while grabbing her sister's hand.

_Beach (Night)_...

"Amy! Lexi!" The Doctor yelled out in realization running to the transport.


	11. The Time of Angels: Part 3

_Inside transport ship_...

"Doctor!" Amy yelled out while punching in random numbers into the keypad, all the while not letting go of Lexi's hand.

_Beach (Night)_...

The Doctor ran up the door. "Are you both alright? What's happening?"

_Inside transport ship_...

"Doctor! Doctor, it's coming out of the television." Lexi said shakily.

_Beach (Night)_...

The Doctor could hear Lexi speaking from the other side of the door.

"The Angel is here."

"Okay, one of you needs to be looking at the Angel. It doesn't matter who. The main thing is... Don't take your eyes off it! Who's looking at it right now?" The Doctor asked frantically.

"Lexi." Amy replied from the other side of the door.

"Okay, Lexi, I need you to listen to me. It can't move if you're looking." The Doctor took out the sonic and used it on the keypad. "What's wrong? It's deadlocked." The Doctor asked River.

"There is no deadlock." River said trying to override the controls.

"Don't blink, Lexi! Don't even blink!"

_Inside transport ship_...

"Doctor!" Lexi screamed. She felt Amy grip her hand tighter. Amy was still punching in random numbers into the keypad.

_Beach (Night)_...

"What are you doing?" River asked The Doctor.

"Cutting the power. It's using the screen. I'm turning the screen off. It's no good, it's deadlocked the whole system.

"There is no deadlock!" River exclaimed frustratedly.

"There is now!" The Doctor replied in the exact same manner.

"Help us!" Amy and Lexi screamed together from the other side of the door.

"Can one of you turn it off?"

_Inside transport ship_...

Amy moved away from the door and grabbed the remote and tried to turn it off.

"Doctor!" Lexi exclaimed blinking one eye at a time.

_Beach (Night)_...

"The screen, can one of you turn it off?" The Doctor asked more intently.

_Inside transport ship_...

"I just tried." Amy replied back.

"Try again; and Lexi, don't take your eyes off the Angel." The Doctor ordered from the other side of the door.

"I'm not!"

_Beach (Night)_...

The Doctor and River were still trying to override the controls.

"Each time it moves, it'll move faster. Don't even blink."

_Inside transport ship_...

"I'm not blinking! Have you ever tried not blinking? Amy are you blinking?!" Lexi asked winking one eye.

"Not even a little bit." Amy replied fumbling for the remote without taking her eyes off the Angel. She grabbed it and backed away while Lexi stayed put looking at the Angel. Amy tried switching it off again, but it kept turning itself back on. "It just keeps switching back on!"

_Beach (Night)_...

"Yeah, it's the Angel." The Doctor said for sure.

_Inside transport ship_...

"But it's just a recording." Lexi said still a bit in denial.

_Beach (Night)_...

"No, anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel." The Doctor turned to River. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to cut through. It's not even warm." River said using a small blowtorch.

"There is no way in. It's not physically possible."

_Inside transport ship_...

"Doctor! What's it gonna do to us?" Amy asked shakily.

_Beach (Night)_...

"Just keep looking at it. Both of you, don't stop looking!"

_Inside transport ship_...

"Just tell us! Tell us, please!"

_Beach (Night)_...

The Doctor ran for the book and brought it back to just outside the transport door where he sat down.

"Lexi, Amy, not the eyes."

_Inside transport ship_...

"Look anywhere but don't look at the eyes." The Doctor said from outside the door.

"Why?" The twins asked while looking directly in its eyes.

"What is it?" River asked The Doctor.

"'The eyes are not the windows of the soul, they are the doors. Beware what may enter them.'"

"Doctor, what did you say?" Amy asked confused.

"Don't look at the eyes!"

"No, about images, what did you say about images?"

"Whatever holds the image of an angel, is an angel."

"Okay, I think I get it... Amy give me the remote." Lexi asked holding out her hand while not taking her eyes off the angel. Once Amy had given Lexi the remote, she pointed it at the Angel. "Hold this... One, two, three, four..." Lexi hit the pause button while there was static.

The image of the Angel froze before turning off, the door opened and The Doctor and River came in. The Doctor unplugged the screen.

"Ha! She froze it! There was a sort of blip on the tape and she froze it. We really are clever if we both figured that out, eh Lexi?"

"Yeah we are, sis. You see, I froze it ON the blip. It wasn't the image of an angel anymore. That was good, yeah? It was, wasn't it? That was pretty good."

"That was amazing!" River exclaimed encouragingly.

"River, hug Amy and Lexi."

"Why?"

"Cos I'm busy."

"We're fine." They said together.

"You're brilliant!" River said standing between Amy and Lexi, putting an arm around each twin's shoulders.

"Thanks." They both said in unison.

"Yeah, we kind of creamed it, didn't we?" Lexi said looking over at Amy. Amy gave her a smile in return.

"So it was here? That was the Angel?" River asked getting back to the matter at hand.

"That was a projection of the Angel. It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant." The Doctor said seriously. They then heard an explosion from outside. The Doctor ran to the door.

_Beach (Night)_...

"It's gone positive!" A soldier informed Octavian.

"Doctor! We're through!" Octavian informed.

_Inside transport ship_...

The Doctor looked at Lexi, Amy and River from the door.

"Okay. Now it starts." The Doctor stated and then went outside.

Amy and Lexi both rubbed their left eyes simultaneously.

"Coming?" River asked while heading for the door.

"Yeah, coming. There's just... Something in my eye." Amy said.

Lexi looked over at her with a puzzled expression. "Hmm, mine too."

_Maze of the Dead, Main Chamber_...

The Doctor climbed down a rope ladder and joined Octavian at the bottom. They both turned on their torches and looked around. Amy, Lexi and River joined them and the other soldiers.

"Do we have a gravity globe?" The Doctor asked Octavian.

"Grav globe." Octavian said. One of the soldiers took out a sphere from his pack and handed it to him.

"Where are we? What is this?" Lexi asked glancing around.

"It's an Aplan mortarium. Sometimes called a maze of the dead." River said in reply.

"And what's that?" Amy asked also glancing around.

"Well, if you happen to be a creature of living stone..." The Doctor started while kicking the gravity sphere like a football and it rose into the air, stopped and then lit up the cave showing a large number of stone statues. "the perfect hiding place."

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier." Octavian said stating the obvious.

"A bit, yeah."

"A stone angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for."

"A needle in a haystack." River said as an analogy.

"A needle that looks like hay. A hay-like needle. Of death. A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of, er, statues. No, yours was fine." Everyone was giving The Doctor looks by now. He was rambling. Amy and Lexi just sort of giggled. It's not like this was the first time they heard him do that.

"Right." Octavian stated. "Check every single statue in this chamber. You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One question - how do we fight it?"

"We find it, and hope." The Doctor replied and walked off. The twins followed him.

River went to follow The Doctor, but Octavian grabbed her by the arm.

"He doesn't know yet, does he? Who and what you are."

"It's too early in his time stream."

"Well, make sure he doesn't work it out. And be sure Lexi... Was it? Doesn't figure it out either. Because if they figure it out, he's not going to help us, and she's going to be very upset with you."

"I won't let you down. Believe you me, I have no intentions of going back to prison, or having her hate me."

"Sir? Side chamber. One visible exit." A soldier called over to Octavian.

"Check it out. Angelo, go with him."

The two soldiers went to check out the chamber.

_Maze of the Dead, Upward Passage_...

The Doctor shined his torch in every direction, Amy and Lexi followed. They both stopped and looked at the many levels above them and all the statues lining the way. They both rubbed the corner of their left eyes with one finger and found a little grit. They then both used their full hands and grit came out through their fingers. Their eyes widened with fright. They stopped and looked at their hands but saw nothing. They both gave each other confused looks, but said nothing. River came up beside them.

"You both alright?" She asked concerned.

"Yeah, fine." Amy replied quickly.

"So, what's a maze of the dead?" Lexi asked changing the subject.

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls... Okay, that was fairly bad. Right, who wants to go first?" River asked holding up a syringe, the twins eyed it suspiciously.

"What is that?" Lexi asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, just a viro-stabilizer. Stabilizes your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything. You're both going to need it when we get up to that ship."

Amy and Lexi looked at each other.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Amy asked questioningly.

"It's as good a decision maker as any." Lexi replied shrugging her shoulders.

They both held out a hand and a clenched fist.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" Lexi picked rock and Amy picked scissors. Since Amy lost she would brave the needle first. This reminded Lexi of all the doctors appointments that they had when they were younger, where one of them would have to get the shot first and the other one would have watch anxiously and wait for their turn.

"Okay then. Amy give me your arm." River said. Amy held out her arm shakily. "This won't hurt a bit." River quickly administered the shot.

"Ow!" Amy shouted pulling her arm away.

"There, you see. I lied. Now, Lexi, your turn." River held out another syringe. Lexi looked at it wearily, but reluctantly held out her arm.

"Come on. It only hurts for a second." Amy said putting a hand on Lexi's shoulder.

River smiled and administered the shot.

"Ow!" Lexi yelped pulling her arm away, the same way Amy did.

River continued walking with Lexi on her left and Amy on her right.

"So what's he like? In the future, I mean." Amy asked looking at River.

"Yeah. Cos you know him in the future, don't you?" Lexi asked also looking at River.

River looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Wow, you two... Anyway, The Doctor? Well, The Doctor's... The Doctor."

"Oh, well that's helpful. Don't you think, Lexi? Do you think we should write that down?" Amy asked sarcastically.

"Yes, we are." River said look over to where The Doctor was.

"Sorry, what?" The Doctor asked while taking readings with River's device.

"Talking about you."

"I wasn't listening. I'm busy."

"Ah. The other way up."

The Doctor turned the device the other way round and looked over at River who merely raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah." The Doctor said grudgingly.

"You're so his wife." Lexi and Amy said together.

"Oh, Amy and Lexi! This is The Doctor we're talking about. Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

"Yep." The twins said with smug grins.

"You're good. I'm not saying you're right... but you are very good."


	12. The Time of Angels: Part 4

_A little while later_...

The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and River were examining the statues when they heard gunfire. They all ran back down to the main chamber.

_Maze of the Dead, Main Chamber_...

A young cleric had fired his weapon at one of the statues. The Doctor stopped to look at it.

"Sorry. Sorry, I thought... I thought it looked at me." The young cleric said apologizing.

"We know what the Angel looks like. Is that the Angel?" Octavian asked the young cleric.

"No, sir."

"No, sir, it is not! According to The Doctor, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil. So it would be good, it would be very good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of decor."

"What's your name?" The Doctor asked the young cleric.

"Bob, sir."

"Ah, that's a great name. I love Bob."

"It's a Sacred Name. We all have Sacred Names, they're given to us in the service of the Church." Octavian explained.

The Doctor went over to join the two. "Sacred Bob. More like Scared Bob now, eh?"

"Yes, sir."

"Ah, good. Scared keeps you fast. Anyone in the room who isn't scared is a moron. Carry on."

"We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes." Octavian explained and then looked over to Bob. "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach."

_Maze of the Dead, Upward Passage_...

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just gonna collapse? There's a whole ship up there." Lexi asked skeptically.

"Incredible builders, the Aplans." River supplied.

"Had dinner with their chief architect once. Two heads are better than one." The Doctor said proudly.

"You mean you helped him?" Amy asked in surprise.

"No, I mean he had two heads. That book, the very end, what did it say?"

"Hang on." River said getting the book out of her pack.

"Read it to me."

"'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The Time of Angels.'" River said reading from the book.

_A little while later_...

Everyone was tracking up the passage.

"Are we there yet? It's a hell of a climb." Amy asked tiredly.

"The maze is on six levels representing the ascent of the soul. Only two levels to go." River reassured.

"Lovely species, the Aplans. We should visit them some time." The Doctor said happily.

"I thought they were all dead?" Lexi asked confused.

"So's Virginia Woolf. I'm on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful. That's having two heads. You're never short of a snog with an extra head."

"Doctor, there's something. I don't know what it is..." River said to The Doctor.

"Yeah, something wrong. Don't know what it is yet either, working on it. Then they started having laws against self-marrying and what was that about? But that's the church for you. Erm, no offense, Bishop."

"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor." Octavian said in understanding, feeling a bit insulted.

They were all now in a narrow passage lined with statues.

"Lowest point in the wreckage is only about 50 feet up from here. That way." Octavian said pointing.

"Church had a point, if you think about it. The divorces must have been messy." Amy said with a thinking expression.

The Doctor stopped and looked at a statue. "Oh!"

"What's wrong?" Lexi asked looking at The Doctor.

"Oh." River said in realization and then also looked at The Doctor.

"Exactly."

"How could we not notice that?"

"Low level perception filter, or maybe we're thick."

"What's wrong, sir?" Octavian asked concerned.

"Nobody move. Everyone stay exactly where they are. Bishop, I am truly sorry. I've made a mistake and we are all in danger."

"What danger?"

"The Aplans." River stated.

"The Aplans?"

"They've got two heads."

"Yes, I get that. So?"

"So why don't the statues? Everyone, over there. Just move, don't ask questions, don't speak." The Doctor ordered. Everyone moved to a spot where there were no statues. "Okay. I want you all to switch off your torches."

"Sir?"

"Just do it." The Doctor commanded. Everyone turned off their torches. "Okay. I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment."

"Are you sure about this?" River asked.

"No."

The Doctor switched off his torch for a split second and the statues in front of them were now facing them. The Doctor ran ahead.

"Oh, my God! They've moved." Lexi exclaimed in surprise.

Everyone followed after The Doctor as he looked at all the statues lining their way to the ship.

"They're Angels. All of them!" The Doctor informed.

"But they can't be." River said a tiny bit in denial.

"Clerics, keep watching them." The Doctor backtracked and saw the Angels had moved forward. "Every statue in this maze, every single one, is a Weeping Angel. They're coming after us."

"There was only one Angel on the ship. Just the one, I swear." River said honestly.

"Could they have been here already?" Amy asked inquisitively.

"Nobody knows."

"We know." The Doctor corrected.

"They don't look like Angels." Octavian said trying to understand.

"And they're not fast. You said they were fast. They should have had us by now." Lexi supplied.

"They're dying, Lexi. Losing their form. They must have been down here for centuries, starving."

"Losing their image." Lexi said trying to understand.

"And their image is their power. Power. Power!"

"Doctor?" Amy asked confused.

"Don't you see? All that radiation spilling out, the drive burn. The crash wasn't an accident - it was a rescue mission, for the Angels. We're in the middle of an army and it's waking up."

"We need to get out of here fast." River said intently.

Octavian started speaking into his radio. "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please. Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statues are active. I repeat, all the statues are active!"

"I know, sir. Angelo and Christian are dead, sir. The statues killed them, sir."

The Doctor took the radio from Octavian. "Bob, Sacred Bob, it's me, The Doctor. Where are you now?"

"I'm talking to my..." Octavian started.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!"

"I'm on my way up to you, sir, I'm homing on your signal.

"Well done, Bob. Scared keeps you fast, told you, didn't i? Your friends, Bob, what did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, sir."

"That's odd. That's not how the Angels kill you, they displace you in time. Unless they needed the bodies for something."

Octavian took the radio back from The Doctor. "Bob, did you check their data packs for vital signs? We may be able to initiate a rescue plan."

The Doctor took the radio back from Octavian. "Don't be an idiot, Octavian. The Angels don't leave you alive!... Bob, keep running, but tell me, how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir. The Angel killed me, too."

The Doctor and Octavian looked at each other wondering what Bob meant.

"What do you mean the Angel killed you too?"

"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something."

"If you're dead, how can I be talking to you?" The Doctor asked trying to understand.

"You're not talking to me, sir. The Angel has no voice. It stripped my cerebral cortex from my body and re-animated a version of my consciousness to communicate with you. Sorry about the confusion."

"So when you say you're on your way up to us..."

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes."

"No way out."

"Then we get out through the wreckage. Go!" Octavian ordered.

"Go, go, go. All of you run!" The Doctor commanded.

"Doctor?" The twins asked.

"Yes, I'm coming, just go, go, go!"

Amy, Lexi and River left with the clerics. Only The Doctor and Octavian remained.

"Called you an idiot. Sorry." The Doctor said apologizing to Octavian. "But, there's no way we could have rescued your men."

"I know that, sir. And when you've flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families." Octavian said flatly before just walking away.

The Doctor spoke into the radio again. "Angel Bob, which Angel am I talking to? The one from the ship?"

"Yes, sir. The other Angels are still restoring."

"Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage. Thank you." The Doctor ran along the passage and saw Lexi and Amy standing there looking at each other terrified. "Don't wait for me, go, run."

"We can't!" They exclaimed together.

The Doctor came back to help them.

"No, really we can't, Doctor." Lexi intently.

"Why not?"

"Look at them. Look at our hands. They're stone!" Amy exclaimed. Her and Lexi were holding onto a railing. To them, their hands looked like stone.

_Maze of the Dead, At the Bysantium_...

Further along the passage, River, Octavian and the clerics arrived at an open chamber and could see the ship above them.

"Well. There it is - the Byzantium." Octavian said looking upward.

"Well, it's got to be 30 feet. How do we get up there?" River asked also looking upward.

"Check all these exits. I want them all secure." Octavian ordered the other clerics.

_Maze of the Dead, Upward Passage_...

The Doctor was examining Lexi and Amy, flashing a torch in their eyes.

"You both looked into the eyes of an Angel, didn't you?"

"I couldn't stop myself." Amy defended.

"Yeah, I tried." Lexi said backing up Amy.

"Listen. It's messing with your heads. Your hands are not made of stone."

"They are. Look at them!" The twins said together.

"It's in your minds, I promise you. You can move those hands. You both can let go of the railing."

"We can't, OK? I've triad, Amy's tried, and we can't. They're stone." Lexi said trying to explain.

The torchlight started to flicker.

"The Angel is gonna come and it's gonna turn this light off, and then there's nothing I can do to stop it. So do it, concentrate, move your hands!" The Doctor commanded frustratedly.

"We can't." Amy said shakily.

"Then we're all going to die."

"You're not going to die." Lexi said adamantly.

"They'll kill the lights."

The light flickered off and the Angels moved closer.

"You've got to go, you know you have. You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here!" Amy protested.

"Time can be re-written, it doesn't work like that."

The light flickered again. Amy and Lexi turned to look at the Angels.

"Both of you, keep your eyes on it. Don't blink."

"Run!" The twins screamed.

"You see, I'm not going. I'm not leaving you two here."

"We don't need you to die for us, Doctor, do we look that clingy?" Lexi asked frantically not daring to look away from the Angel.

"You both can move your hands."

"They're stone." Amy said flatly.

"They're not stone!"

"Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with us, you'll have as good as killed them. Look, if me and Lexi have to die here, at least we can die together." Amy said sweetly nodding in Lexis direction. A single tear rolled down Lexi's cheek when she heard those words.

"Oh Ponds, you are magnificent. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay. We understand. Don't we, Amy? You've got to leave us."

"Oh, no. I'm not leaving you, never. I'm sorry about this you two." The Doctor quickly bit Lexi's hand then Amy's. The both screamed, moving their hands. "See, not stone. Now run!"

"You bit me!" Amy said rubbing her hand.

"Me too!" Lexi said doing the same thing.

"Yep and you're both alive."

"I've got a mark! Look at my hand!" Lexi said holding out her hand.

The Doctor grabbed their hands and pulled them behind him. "Yeah, and you're alive, did I mention?"

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?" Amy asked asked in a high pitch voice.

"Alive. All I'm saying."

The trio continued running.

_Maze of the Dead, At the Bysantium_...

One of the clerics that was sent to check the passages returned. "The statues are advancing along all corridors. And sir, my torch keeps flickering."

"They all do." Octavian replied.

"So does the gravity globe." River said reminding.

"Clerics, we're down four men. Expect incoming."

"Yeah, it's the Angels. They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves." The Doctor said coming up next to Octavian.

"Which means we won't be able to see them." Octavian said understanding.

"Which means we can't stay hear."

"Any suggestions?" River asked a bit sarcastically.

"The statues are advancing on all sides and we don't have the climbing equipment to reach the Byzantium." Octavian informed.

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out. No pressure, but this is usually when you have a really good idea." River said looking to The Doctor.

"There's always a way out." The Doctor's voice echoed.

The lights flickered off again and when they came back on, the Angels were closer, basically blocking the passage.

"There's always a way out." The Doctor repeated.

"Doctor? Can I speak to The Doctor, please?" Angel Bob voice resonated over the radio.

"Hello, Angels. What's your problem?" The Doctor asked into the radio.

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with you shortly. Sorry, sir."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end."

"Which is?"

"I died in fear."

"I'm sorry?"

"You told me my fear would keep me alive but I died afraid, in pain and alone. You made me trust you, and when it mattered you let me down."

Amy leaned over to River and whispered. "What are they doing?"

"They're trying to make him angry." River whispered back.

"I'm sorry, sir. The Angels were very keen for you to know that." Angel Bob apologized.

"Well then, the Angels have made their second mistake because I'm not going to let that pass. I'm sorry you're dead, Bob, but I swear to whatever is left of you, they will be sorrier."

"But you're trapped, sir, and about to die."

"Yeah, I'm trapped. Speaking of traps, this trap has got a great big mistake in it. A great big, whopping mistake!"

"What mistake, sir?"

The Doctor turned to Amy. "Trust me?"

"Yeah."

The Doctor then turned to Lexi. "Trust me?"

"Absolutely."

The Doctor then turned to face River. "Trust me?"

"Always."

The Doctor finally turned to Octavian to address everyone else. "You lot - trust me?"

"Sir, two more incoming!" One of the clerics said watching the passage.

"We have faith, sir." Octavian said in response to The Doctor.

"Then give me your gun." Octavian handed The Doctor the gun. "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous. When I do..." The Doctor jumped in place. "jump."

"Jump where?" Octavian asked entirely confused.

"Just jump, high as you can. Come on, leap of faith, Bishop. On my signal." The Doctor was acting a tiny bit happy. Probably thinking of how clever he was being.

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it." The Doctor aimed the gun at the roof.

"Sorry, can I ask agIn? You mentioned a mistake?" Angel Bob asked over the radio.

"Oh, big mistake. Huge. There's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap."

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Me!" The Doctor fired at the gravity globe, making it explode.

_TO BE CONTINUED_

**A/N: I hope you liked it! Next chapter shall be **_**Flesh and Stone**_**! :)**


	13. Flesh and Stone: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 13: Flesh and Stone

**A/N: Hello, I really hope everyone is enjoying this story. Also, tell me what you think about my choices for Lexi's wardrobe.**

Everyone was recovering from the jump. Amy and Lexi were sitting on the ground. Lexi stood up and then helped Amy.

"Up! Look up!" The Doctor exclaimed standing.

"You okay?" River asked looking at the twins.

"What happened?" Amy asked looking at River.

"We jumped."

"Jumped where?" Lexi asked skeptically.

"Up, up, look up!" The Doctor kept saying.

"Where are we?" Lexi asked again.

"Exactly where we were." River replied.

"No we're not." Amy said in disbelief.

"Move you're feet!" The Doctor said to Lexi. He then soniced an indentation on the floor.

"Doctor, what are we looking at? Explain." Amy and Lexi asked together.

"Oh, come on, think! The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"

The twins looked around and noticed that they were standing on the bottom of the Bysantium.

"The artificial gravity. One good jump," The Doctor jumped up and down. "and up we fell. Shot out the grav-globe to give us an updraft, and here we are!" The Doctor returned to sonicing the indentation.

"Doctor. The statues, they look more like Angels now." Octavian said looking up and seeing the statues looking more and more like what Angels should be.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves. Within an hour, they'll be an army!" The Doctor explained. The indentation opened up into the ship just as the lights started going out. "They're taking out the lights. Look at them, look at the Angels. Into the ship, now, quickly all of you!" The Doctor slipped into the hole.

"But how? Doctor!" Lexi asked. She and Amy peered into the hole to see The Doctor standing upright.

_Bysantium corridor_...

"It's just a corridor. The gravity orientates to the floor." The Doctor made a motion from the ceiling to the floor. "Now, in here, all of you, don't take your eyes off the Angels. Move, move, move!" The Doctor used the screwdriver on a keypad while everyone climbed inside.

"Okay, men, go, go, go!" Octavian joined The Doctor. "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?"

The door closed once everyone was inside.

"They're here. Now. In the dark, we're finished. Run!"

A large door behind them closed, blocking their only escape.

"This whole place is a death trap."

"No, it's a time bomb. Well, it's a death trap and a time bomb. And now it's a dead end. Nobody panic."

The Angels were trying to come in the exterior door.

"Oh, just me then. What's through here?"

"Secondary flight deck."

"Okay, so we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah? So what if the gravity fails?" Amy asked really wanting to know the answer.

River was beginning to work on bypassing the power.

"I've thought about that."

"And?" Amy asked expectantly.

"And we'll all plunge to our deaths."

"See, Amy, he's thought about." Lexi said sarcastically.

The Doctor smiled and tapped her on the nose before going back to what he was saying. "Yes, anyway, the security protocols are still live. There's no way to override them, it's impossible."

"How impossible?" River asked not taking her eyes away from what she was doing.

"Two minutes." The Doctor replied nonchalantly.

The hum of the engines powered down and their way in had reopened and they could see the cavern outside.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing." Octavian informed.

The lights went out. The arm of an Angel could be seen through the opening.

"Sir! Incoming!" One of the clerics exclaimed.

"Doctor! Lights." Lexi and Amy said together.

The Doctor used the sonic to help River. The lights came on briefly and they saw an Angel making its way inside. The lights went out again and came on brighter to show four Angels inside the corridor with them.

"Clerics, keep watching them." Octavian ordered.

"And don't look at their eyes. Anywhere else. Not the eyes. I've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now."

"Good work, Doctor."

"Yes, good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far..."

"So far?" Lexi asked in surprise.

"Well, there's only one way to open this door. I guess I'll need to route all the power in this section through the door control."

"Good, fine, do it." Octavian said expectantly.

"Including the lights. All of them. I'll need to turn out the lights." The Doctor said a tiny bit wearily.

"How long for?"

"Fraction of a second, maybe longer. Maybe quite a bit longer,"

"Maybe?"

"I'm guessing. We're being attacked by statues in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!" The Doctor was a bit frustrated.

"Doctor, we lost the torches. We'll be in total darkness." Amy said coming up next to The Doctor.

"No other way. Bishop?"

"Dr. Song, I've lost good Clerics today. You trust this man?" Octavian asked River.

"I absolutely trust him."

"He's not some kind of madman then?"

"I absolutely trust him." River said, not wanting to lie.

"Excuse me." The Doctor went back to work on the door.

"I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage this guy. But that only works so long as he doesn't know who you are. You cost me any more men, and I might just tell him. Understood?" Octavian asked River quietly.

"Understood." River said turning back to what she was doing.

"Okay. Doctor, we've got your back."

"Bless you. Bishop."

Octavian turned to the Clerics. "Combat distance, ten feet. As soon as the lights go down, continuous fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste."

"Lexi, Amy, when the lights go down, the wheel should release. Spin it clockwise, four turns." The Doctor instructed the twins.

"Ten." They replied.

"No, four, four turns."

"Yeah, four, we heard you." They said together before taking their positions at the door.

"Ready!" The Doctor placed the sonic into the circuit.

"On my count then." Octavian instructed. "God be with us all. Three... two... one." The lights went out. "Fire!"

The clerics opened fire on the Angels. The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and River tried to get the door open.

"Turn!" The Doctor exclaimed loudly.

"Doctor, quickly!" River replied back just as loudly.

"It's opening, it's working." Amy informed.

Amy, Lexi and River slipped through the opening.

"Fall back!" Octavian commanded.

The Clerics moved through the doorway followed by Octavian and The Doctor. They moved down a similar corridor to another door. The Doctor held the door open with the sonic as the others went through.

"Doctor, quickly." River called from the other side of the door.

"Doctor!" Lexi also called from the other side of the door.

The Doctor ran to join them as the door closed quickly behind him.

_Byzantium secondary flight deck_...

The flight deck was in major disrepair with exposed wires all over the console. The Doctor immediately went to one of the controls.

"Doctor!" Amy called going over to him. The hatch on the door spun shut and Octavian placed a device on the door. "What are you doing?"

"Magnetized the door. Nothing could turn that wheel now." Octavian replied.

"Yeah?" The Doctor asked knowingly.

The wheel began to turn.

"Dear God!"

"Ah, now you're getting it! You've bought us time though, that's good. I am good with time."

"Doctor!" Lexi exclaimed coming up on the other side of The Doctor, seeing that another wheel was spinning.

"Seal that door. Seal it now!" Octavian ordered.

A cleric placed a magnetic device on the second door.

"We're surrounded!" River said just a tiny bit freaked out.

The third door began to spin open.

"Seal it, seal that door." Octavian commanded.

A second cleric placed a device on the door.

"Doctor, how long have we got?" Octavian asked wanting know.

"Five minutes, max." The Doctor informed.

"Nine." The twins said in unison.

The Doctor looked at them with an eyebrow raised. "Five."

"Five, right yeah." The twins said understanding.

"Why d'you say nine?"

"We didn't."


	14. Flesh and Stone: Part 2

"We need another way out of here." River said while working on something.

"There isn't one." Octavian replied.

"Yeah, there is, course there is. This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet-falls. So," The Doctor snapped his fingers. "what do they need?"

"Of course." River said in realization.

The Doctor snapped his fingers again.

"Of course, what? What do they need?" Amy asked with a hint of anxiety.

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked wanting to know.

"Well, it's a sealed unit, but they must have installed it somehow. This whole wall should slide up." The Doctor pressed himself against the rear wall. "There's clamps. Release the clamps!" He used the sonic on the clamps.

"What's through there? What do they need?" Lexi asked.

"They need to breathe." River replied.

The door slowly rose. The Doctor smiled. Lexi and Amy's faces were painted with awestruck expressions.

"But that's... That's a..." The twins could barely speak out of surprise.

The door fully opened and lush vegetation and trees could be seen.

"It's an oxygen factory." River stated simply.

"It's a forest." Amy said in amazement.

"Yeah, it's a forest, it's an oxygen factory."

"And if we're lucky, an escape route." The Doctor informed.

"Eight." Lexi and Amy said at the exact same time.

"What did you say?" River asked with a confused expression.

"Nothing."

"Is there another exit? Scan the architecture, we don't have time to get lost in there." The Doctor said looking over at Octavian.

"On it!" Octavian stepped into the forest. "Stay here until I've checked the Rad levels."

"But trees! On a spaceship?" Lexi asked in almost a joyous tone of happiness.

"Oh, more than trees, way better than trees. You're both going to love this." The Doctor stepped into the forest. "Treeborgs..." He opened a section of peat moss to reveal circuitry. "Tress plus technology. Branches become cables, become sensors on the hull. A forest sucking in starlight, breathing out air. It even rains. There's a whole mini-climate. It is an eco-pod running through the heart of the ship." The Doctor quickly ran back right up to the Ponds and started speaking really fast. "A forest in a bottle, on a spaceship, in a maze. Have I impressed you yet, Amy and Lexi Pond?"

The twins chuckled. "Seven."

"Seven?" The Doctor stepped back into the flight deck to stand right in front of them.

"Sorry, what?" They asked.

"You two said seven." The Doctor stated while studying there faces.

"No we didn't."

"Yes, you did." River said definitively.

"Doctor! There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck." Octavian said as he returned.

"Good that's where we need to go."

"Plotting a safe path."

The Doctor was still studying the twins' faces. "Quick as you like!"

"Doctor? Excuse me. Hello, Doctor? Angel Bob here, sir." Angel Bob's voice could be heard over the radio.

The Doctor plopped down in a nearby armchair. "Ah, there you are, Angel Bob. How's life?... Sorry, bad subject."

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve."

"Achieve? We're not achieving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here, consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond."

"Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention?"

"We have no need of comfy chairs."

"I made him say comfy chairs!"

The twins laughed. "Six."

The Doctor stood up quickly. "Okay, well, enough chat. Here's what I want to know: what have you done to Lexi and Amy?"

"There is something in their eyes."

"What's in their eyes?"

"We are."

"What's he talking about? Doctor, we're five." Everyone stared at the twins. "I mean five. Fine! We're fine."

"You're counting." River said pointedly.

"Counting?"

"Yes. This is the most I've ever heard you two talk at the same time right in a row, and it's actually staring to kind of freak me out. You're both counting down. From ten. You have been for a couple of minutes."

"Why?" Amy asked really confused.

"I don't know."

"Well, counting down to what?" Lexi asked more intently.

"I don't know."

"We shall take them. We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space."

The Doctor sat down again. "Get a life, Bob... Oops, sorry again. There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much."

"With respect, sir, there is more power on this ship than you yet understand."

Suddenly, there was a loud, horrible screeching.

"Dear God, what is it?" River asked cringing a little.

"They're back." Octavian informed.

"It's hard to put in your terms, Dr. Song, but as best as I understand it, the Angels are laughing."

"Laughing?" The Doctor asked into the radio.

"Because you haven't noticed yet. The Doctor in the TARDIS hasn't noticed."

"Doctor!" Octavian exclaimed looking at the back wall.

The Doctor stood up. "No, wait, there's something... I've..." He slowly turned to see the glowing crack high in the wall. "missed."

The Doctor ran back to the wall, followed by Lexi and Amy.

"That's... That's like the crack from our bedroom wall from when we were little girls." Amy said in surprised disbelief. Lexi looked at the crack with wide eyes but said nothing.

"Yes." The Doctor confirmed.

"Ok, enough, we're moving out!" Octavian commanded.

"Agreed, Doctor?" River asked.

"Yeah. Fine?" The Doctor used the sonic on the crack.

"What are you doing?"

"Right with you."

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Oh, yes you are. Bishop?"

"Both of you Miss Ponds, Dr. Song, now!"

River grabbed Amy and Lexi and pulled them to the forest.

"Doctor, come on!" Lexi called after him.

"So what are you?" The Doctor looked at the readings from the screwdriver. "Oh, that's bad. Ah, that's extremely very not good." He pressed his ear against the wall, but when he turned back, he was surrounded by Angels. "Do... Not... Blink." He then climbed over the console to get past them, only to be grabbed by his jacket collar.

_Byzantium, Forest_...

Octavian and the clerics were walking slowly through the forest, keeping River, Amy and Lexi safely in the center. Lexi could start to feel herself slow down. She looked at Amy to see her doing the same. Lexi was starting to not feel so great, and by the looks of Amy, she looked to be feeling the same way. River noticed something was wrong with them.

"Lexi? Amy?" She walked over and put her hands on their shoulders. "What's wrong?"

_Byzantium, Secondary Flight Deck_...

The Doctor was still in the grip of the Angels.

"Why am I not dead then?" He turned nervously to see that the Angels had their hands up to the crack as if worshiping it. "Good, and not so good. Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it? Is that the power that brought you here? That's pure time energy, you can't feed on that. That's the power, that's the fire at the end of the universe. I'll tell you something else..." There was a loud rumbling. "Never let me talk!" The Doctor ran into the forest leaving his jacket in the hands of the Angels.

_Byzantium forests, Clearing_...

"Amy, Lexi, what's wrong?"

"Four." The twins slowly curled up on a large moss-covered rock.

"Med-scanners, now!" One of the clerics handed River two med-scanners.

"Dr. Song, we can't stay here, we've got to keep moving." Octavian informed hastily.

"We wait for The Doctor." River used the scanners on Lexi and Amy.

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralize the Angels. Until that is achieved..."

"Father Octavian, when The Doctor is in the room, your only mission is to keep him alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy. Now, if he's dead back there, I'll never forgive myself, and if he's alive, I'll never forgive him... And, Doctor, you're standing right behind me aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah."

River turned to The Doctor. "I hate you!"

"You don't. Bishop, the Angels are in the forest." The Doctor ran to Lexi and Amy's sides.

"We need visual contact on every line of approach." Octavian informed.

"Doctor, how did you get past them?" River asked.

"Found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the universe."

"What was it?" Lexi asked weakly.

"The end of the universe. Let's have a look then." The Doctor checked the med-scanners side by side.

"So, what's wrong with us?" Amy asked just as weakly as Lexi.

"Nothing, you're both fine." River said comfortingly.

"Everything, you're both dying." The Doctor corrected.

"Doctor!" River exclaimed frustratedly.

"Yes, you're right, if we lie to them, they'll get all better! Right. Amy! Lexi! What's the matter with Amelia and Alexis? Something's in their eyes. What does that mean? Doesn't mean anything."

"Doctor." The twins said weakly.

"Busy."

"Scared!"

"Course, you're dying, shut up!"

"Okay, let him think." River said calmingly.

The Doctor stood up. "What happened? They stared at the Angel, they looked into the eyes of an angel for too long..."

"Sir! Angel, incoming!" A cleric exclaimed. An Angel was watching from the trees.

"And here." Another cleric exclaimed.

"Keep visual contact, do not let it move!" Octavian ordered.

"Come on, come on, wakey, wakey!" The Doctor said pacing and slapping the sides of his head. "They watched an Angel climb out of the screen. They stared at the Angel and... and..."

"The image of an Angel is an Angel." The twins said weakly.

"A living image in a human mind. We stare at them to stop them getting closer, we don't even blink and that's exactly what they want, cos as long as our eyes are open, they can climb inside. There's and Angel in their minds!" The Doctor put a hand over his mouth in realization.

"Three, Doctor, it's coming." The twins said very scared.

"I can feel it. We're gonna die!" Amy said in a weak panic.

"Please just shut up, I'm thinking. Now counting, what's that about?" The Doctor pulled out the radio. "Bob, why are they making them count?"

"To make them afraid, sir."

"Okay, but why, what for?"

"For fun, sir."

The Doctor growled in frustration and threw away the radio. One of the clerics watched The Doctor and turned back to look at the Angel when he heared a branch crack.

"Doctor, what's happening to us? Explain!" Lexi said as strongly as she could.

"Inside your heads, in the vision centers of your brains, there's an Angel." The Doctor knelt down in front of them to look at them in there faces. "It's like there's a screen, a virtual screen inside your minds, and the Angel is climbing out it, and it's coming to shut you off."

"Then what do we do?"

The Doctor stood back up. "If it was a real screen, what would we do, we'd pull the plug, but we can't just knock them out, the Angel would just take over!"

"Then what? Quickly!" River exclaimed hurriedly.

"We've got to shut down the vision centers of their brains. We've got to pull the plugs, starve the Angel."

River looked at the two med-scanners. "Doctor, they've got seconds."

"How would you starve your lungs?"

"I'd stop breathing."

"Lexi, Amy, close your eyes."

"No..." They both said weakly and afraid.

"Good, because that's not you, that's the Angel inside the both of you, it's afraid! Do it! Close your eyes!"

The twins hesitated but both closed their eyes when The Doctor nodded his head. The scanners beeped and the readings returned to green.

"They're normalizing." River sighed in relief. "You did it! You did it!"

"Sir? Two more incoming." One of the clerics informed.

"Three more over here." Another one called.

River put away the scanners. "Still weak, dangerous to move them."

Amy and Lexi sat up. "So, can we open our eyes now?" Amy asked for the both of them.

The Doctor bent down to look at them more directly. "Amy, Lexi, listen to me. If either of you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die. The Angel is still inside the two of you. We haven't stopped it, we've just sort of... paused it. You've used up your countdowns. You cannot open your eyes."

"Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on." Octavian informed.

The Doctor stood up straight. "We're exposed everywhere, and Lexi and Amy can't move, and anyway, that's not the plan."

"There's a plan?" River asked a tiny bit surprised. She sat down in between Amy and Lexi and put her arms around their shoulders comforting them.

"I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking. Right! Father, you and your Clerics will stay here, look after Amy and Lexi. If anything happens to them, I'll hold each of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck which is..." The Doctor licked his finger and held it up to test the air. "a quarter mile straight ahead. We'll stabilize the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy and Lexi."

"How?" River asked.

"I'll do a thing."

"What thing?"

"I don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Moving out!"

"Doctor, I'm coming with you. My Clerics can look after both Miss Ponds. These are my best men, they'd lay down their lives in their protection." Octavian explained.

"I don't need you."

"I don't care. Where Dr. Song goes, I go."

River stood up and came over to them.

"What?" The Doctor asked looking at River and then back to Octavian. "You two engaged or something?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Marco, you're in charge till I get back." Octavian instructed and then started off with River.

"Sir!" The Cleric now known as Marco affirmed.

"Doctor... Please, can't we come with you?" Lexi asked a tiny bit pleadingly.

"You'd both slow us down, Miss Pond." Octavian replied apologetically.

"I don't want to sound selfish, but I have a feeling you'd really speed us up."

The Doctor went and sat down in between the twins. "You'll both be safer here. We can't protect you two on the move. I'll be back for you soon as I can, I promise,"

"You always say that." Amy and Lexi said flatly.

"I always come back." The Doctor stood back up. "Good luck everyone. Behave. Do not let those girls open their eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. "Ponds, later!" He tapped the twins on their heads, making them smile. They smiled tiny smiles, but still smiles nonetheless. "River, going to need your computer." The Doctor called as he left the forest clearing.

"Yeah. Later." Mumbled both the twins.

They both kind of fidgeted nervously with their hands. A masculine pair of hands gripped each of theirs. They couldn't see him, but they knew it was The Doctor. The thing they didn't notice, was that this Doctor WAS wearing a tweed jacket.

"Lexi, Amy, you need to start trusting me, it's never been more important."

"But you don't always tell us the truth." Amy said obviously.

"If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."

"Doctor, the crack in our wall, how can it be here?" Lexi asked earnestly.

"I don't know yet, but I'm working it out. Now, listen. Remember what I told you two when you were seven?"

"What did you tell us?"

The Doctor kissed both their hands. "No, no... That's not the point. You have to remember." The Doctor kissed Amy's forehead. "And Lexi, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do."

"Wait. What are you talking about? Why are you-" Lexi was cut off by the feeling of soft lips being pressed against hers. It felt nice, in fact it felt really nice. But, as soon as the feeling arrived, it was gone. The Doctor had left.

"Remember what? Doctor? Doctor?... What was he talking about, Lexi? What happened?" Amy asked pressingly. Lexi sat there for a moment in a state of shocked confusion.

"To tell you the truth, sis... I have absolutely no idea."


	15. Flesh and Stone: Part 3

_Byzantium, Forest path_...

Octavian was leading River and The Doctor through the forest. There was a beeping and The Doctor checked the device he had.

"What's that?" River asked curiously.

"Readings from a crack in a wall."

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the universe?"

"Here's what I think. One day there'll be a very Big Bang, so big, every moment in history - past and future - will crack."

"Is that possible?"

"How can you be engaged in a manner of speaking?" The Doctor asked River changing the subject.

"Well... sucker for a man in uniform." River replied with a smile.

Octavian walked back over to the two. "Dr. Song is in my personal custody. I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she has accomplished her mission and earned her pardon. Just so we understand each other."

"You were in Stormcage?" The Doctor asked River. The devices beeped, drawing his attention back to it.

"What? What is that?"

"The date! The date of the explosion where the crack begins."

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"

The date appeared on the bottom as 26/06/2010.

"Amy and Lexi's time!" The Doctor confirmed.

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

Amy and Lexi were getting pretty bored still sitting with their eyes shut.

"So, what's happening? Anything happening out there?" Amy asked craning her neck, which was weird, because she couldn't open her eyes, and therefore couldn't see anything.

"The Angels are still grouping." Marco replied. One of the Angels reached into a tree and pulled at the wires causing the lights to flicker. "Are you getting this too?"

"The trees? Yeah." One of the other clerics affirmed.

"What's wrong with the trees?" Lexi asked confused.

"Here too, sir. They're ripping the Treeborgs apart."

"And here. They're taking out the lights." Another cleric informed.

"What is it? What's happening? Tell us. We can't see." Amy exclaimed pleadingly frustrated.

"It's the trees, ma'am. The trees are going out." Marco replied.

The Angels took advantage of the flickering lights and began to advance.

_Byzantium, Forest outside Primary Flight Deck_...

The Doctor was taking readings from the handheld as Octavian looked for a way in. River was standing guard.

"It doesn't open it from here, but it's the Primary Flight Deck. This has got to be a service hatch or something." Octavian said as he examined the hatch.

"Hurry up and open it, times running out." River said harshly.

"What? What did you say? Time's running out, is that what you said?" The Doctor asked quickly.

"Yeah, I just meant..."

"I know what you meant, hush! But what if it could?"

"What if what could?"

"Time. What if time could run out?"

"Got it!" Octavian exclaimed opening the hatch.

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_..,

"Angels advancing, sir."

"Over here, again."

"Weapons primed. Combat distance five feet. Wait for it!"

Both the twins stood up. "What is it?" Amy asked.

"Yeah. What's happening, just tell us!" Lexi said frustratedly.

"Keep your position and, ma'am, both of you keep your eyes shut!" The Angels advanced. "Wait!"

A bright light suddenly appeared and spread. Marco looked away towards the light.

"The ship's not on fire, is it?" Marco inquired.

A cleric turned to the light. "It can't be. The compressors would have taken care of it." The cleric then turned back. "Marco, the Angels have gone. Where'd they go?"

"What, the Angels?" The twins asked.

"This sides clear too, sir." A cleric informed Marco.

"The Angels have gone?"

Marco read his handheld. "There's still some movement out there, but away from us now. It's like they're running."

"Running from what?" Amy asked more insistently.

"Phillip, Crispin, need to get a closer look at that." Marco ordered. The two clerics headed towards the light.

"What are you all looking at? What's there?" Amy asked again.

Phillip and Crispin disappeared behind some trees.

_Byzantium, Forest outside Primary Flight Deck_...

"Cracks in time, time running out... No, couldn't be. How's a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks? And they didn't recognize the Daleks! Okay, time can shift. Time can change. Time can be rewritten. Ah! Oh!"

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

Marco was sitting in between the twins explaining things.

"It's like, I don't know... a curtain of energy, sort of shifting. Makes you feel weird, sick."

"And you think it scared the Angels?" The twins asked in unison.

"What could scare those things?" The other cleric standing watch asked.

"Lexi? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Amy asked nervously.

"I think I might be." Lexi replied.

The twins stood up at the same time.

"What are you doing?" Marco asked standing up quickly.

"Point us at the light." They replied.

"You can't open your eyes."

"Not for more than a second., that's what The Doctor said." Amy said informing.

"Yeah, still got a bit of countdown left." Lexi added.

"You can't."

"We need to see it. Are we looking the right way. We have to be quick."

Marco pointing them in the right direction. "Very quick!"

"Ok." The twins opened their eyes.

"It's the same shape! It's the crack in our wall." Amy exclaimed in shock.

"Both of you, close your eyes. Now!"

Amy immediately closed her eyes, but Lexi kept hers open.

"It's following us! How can it be following us?"

Lexi fell to her knees, but Marco was there to support her, holding his hand over her eyes, forcing her to close them.

"Are you okay?" Marco asked out of concern.

"Yeah. It was the same shape!"

"Marco, you want me to get a closer look at that?" The other cleric asked.

"Go for it. Don't get too close."

"Hang on, what about the other two?" Amy asked confused.

"She's right. Why not just wait 'til they're back?" Lexi asked in the exact same tone.

"What other two?" Marco asked as if the twins were acting crazy.

"The ones you sent before." The twins replied.

"I didn't send anyone before."

"You did. We heard you. Crispin and Phillip." Amy defended.

"Crispin and who?"

_Byzantium, Forest outside Primary Flight Deck_...

"Dr. Song, get through, now." Octavian helped River through the hatch. "Doctor?... Doctor?"

The Doctor was doing invisible calculations in the air. "Time can be unwritten."

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

"Amy, Lexi, there never was a Crispin or a Phillip on this mission, I promise you."

"No, we heard you. Before you sent Pedro, you sent Crispin and Phillip, and now you can't even remember them. Something happened. I don't know what, and you don't even remember." Amy said trying so very hard explain.

"Pedro?" Marco asked having no idea what Amy was talking about.

"Yeah, before you sent Pedro." Lexi defended her sister's explanation.

"Who's Pedro?"

_Byzantium, Forest outside Primary Flight Deck_...

"It's been happening and I haven't even noticed." The Doctor said in frustration with himself for not noticing the obvious.

"Doctor, we have to move." Octavian said insistently.

"The CyberKing! A giant cyberman walks over all Victorian London and no one remembers."

"We have to move it! The Angels could be here any second." Octavian put a hand on The Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor shrugged off Octavian's hand. "Never mind the Angels. There's worse here than Angels!"

The lights went out and The Doctor turned to see an Angel had its arm around Octavian's neck.

"I beg to differ, sir." Octavian said a bit shakily, seeing he was having a hard time with his throat being constricted.

The Doctor used his screwdriver on the Angel. "Let him go."

"Well, it can't let me go, sir, not while you're looking at it."

"I can't stop looking at it, it'll kill you."

"It'll kill me anyway. There's no way out of this. You have to leave me!"

"Can't you wiggle out?"

"No, it's too tight. There's nothing you can do."

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

"Something's happening! Pedro was here a second ago and now you can't even remember him!" Lexi was almost screaming at this point.

"There never was a Pedro. There's only ever been the three of us here!"

"No, there were six of us. Why can't you remember?" Amy asked a little more calmly.

"Listen, listen. I need to get a closer look at that light, whatever it is. Don't worry, I won't get too close."

"No, you can't. You mustn't." The twins said trying very hard to stop Marco.

"Here, spare communicators." Marco pressed the devices into Lexi and Amy's hands. "I'll stay in touch the whole time."

"You won't. If you go back there, what happened to the others will happen to you!" Lexi exclaimed.

"There weren't any others!" Marco retorted.

"She's right. There won't be any YOU if you go back there." Amy said defending Lexi.

"Two minutes, I promise." Marco walked away.

"Please, just listen to us!" The twins yelled.

Lexi and Amy were then alone in the clearing.

_Byzantium, Forest outside Primary Flight Deck_...

"Sir, there's nothing you can do."

"You're dead if I leave you." The Doctor explained simply.

"Yes, yes, I'm dead. And before you go..."

"I'm not going!"

"Listen to me. It's important! You can't trust her."

"Trust who?"

"River Song. You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is."

"Then tell me."

"I've told you more than I should. Now, please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends."

"Just tell me why she was in Stormcage."

"She killed a man, a good man, a hero to many."

"Who?"

"You don't want to know, sir, you really don't."

"Who did she kill?"

"Sir, the Angels are coming. You have to leave me."

"You'll die."

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God and bless the path that takes you to safety."

"... I wish I'd known you better."

"I think, sir, you know me at my best." Octavian said preparing for the inevitable.

"Ready?"

Octavian closed his eyes. "Content."

The Doctor ran for the hatch and closed it behind him.

_Byzantium, Primary Flight Deck_...

"There's a teleport! If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here. Where's Octavian?" River asked noticing that Octavian wasn't in the room.

"Octavian's dead, so is that teleport. You're wasting your time. I'm going to need your communicator." The Doctor took the communicator from River.

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

Amy talked into her radio softly. "Hello, are you there? Hello? Hello?"

"I'm here. I'm fine. I'm quite close to it now." Marco voiced cracked through threw the radio.

"Than come back! Come back now, please." Lexi exclaimed pleadingly into her communicator.

"It's weird looking at it. It feels really..." Marco's voice cut to static.

"Really what? Hello? Really what? Hello? Hello?" Lexi was kind of freaking out now.

"Please say you're there. Hello? Hello!" Amy continued.

"Amy? Lexi? Is that you?" The Doctor voice crackled the radio.

"Doctor?" The twins asked in scared tones.

"Where are you? Are the Clerics with you?"

"They've gone. There was a light and they walked into the light..." Amy started.

"Doctor, they didn't even remember each other." Lexi finished.

_Byzantium, Primary Flight Deck_...

"No. They wouldn't." The Doctor confirmed in upset understanding.

"What is that light?" River asked.

"Time running out." The Doctor then spoke into the radio. "Lexi, Amy, I'm sorry. I should never have left you two there."

"Well, what do we do now?" Both Twins' voices crackled through the communicator speaker.

"You come to us. Primary Flight Deck, other end of the forest."

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

"Well, as you may already know, we can't see! We can't open our eyes." Amy tried to reason. It's not like you see where you're going if your eyes are shut.

Suddenly both their communicators had a faint buzzing noise that sounded kind of like the sonic.

"Turn on the spot." The Doctor instructed.

"Sorry, what?" Lexi asked confused.

"Just do it. Turn on the spot... When the communicators sound like my screwdriver, you're facing the right way. Follow the sound."

Lexi and Amy turned in circles next to each other and listened to the whirring sounds the communicators made.

_Byzantium, Primary Flight Deck_...

"You have to start moving." The Doctor explained. "There's time energy spilling out of that crack and you both have to stay ahead of it."

"But the Angels, they're everywhere." Amy said over the radio.

"I'm sorry, I really am, but the Angels can only kill you."

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

Both Amy and Lexi started walking.

"What does the time energy do?" Lexi asked.

"Just keep moving!" The Doctor sounded a tiny bit angry with himself.

"Just tell us!" The twins exclaimed together.

_Byzantium, Primary Flight Deck_...

"If the Time Energy catches up with you, you'll never have been born... It will erase every moment of your existence You will never have lived at all... Now, keep your eyes shut and keep moving!"

"It's never going to work." River said indignantly.

"WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU GOT? River, tell me!"

Suddenly there was a loud whooshing and clanging.

"What's that?" River asked.

"The Angels running from the fire. They came here to feed on the time energy. Now it's going to feed on them... Amy, Lexi, listen to me... I'm sending a bit of software to your communicators. It's a proximity detector. They'll beep if there's something in your way. You just maneuver till the beeping stops... Because, Lexi, Amy, this is important... The forest is full of Angels.. You're going to have to walk like you two can see."

"Well, what do you mean?" Amy asked a tiny bit annoyed.

"Look, just keep moving," The Doctor said again.

"That time energy, what's it going to do?" River asked while working on the teleport.

"Er, keep eating."

"How do we stop it?"

"Feed it."

"Feed it what?"

"A big complicated space-time event should shut it up for a while."

"Like what, for instance?"

"LIKE ME, FOR INSTANCE!"

A high-pitched beeping echoed through the flight deck.

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

"What's that?" The twins asked.

"It a warning. There are Angels 'round you now." The Doctor said as calmly as possible over the radio.

The lights flashed again, and the twins were surrounded by Angels.

"Amy, Lexi, listen to me. This is going to be hard but I know... you can do it. The Angels are scared... and running and right now they're not that interested in either of you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see. Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see... You're not moving. You have to do this."

Lexi and Amy were standing between two Angels.

"Now... You have to do this!"

_Byzantium, Forest clearing_...

Both the twins' communicators beeped slowly. They both took steps forward and the communicators started to beep quickly, indicating there was an angel in front of them. They maneuvered to where the beeping slowed, and walked around the Angel. They again, slowly walked forward and turn only to hear the beeping speed up once more. They changed directions, with Amy now walking in front of Lexi.

"Amy, I'm scared." Lexi whispered.

"Me too, but we have to keep-" At that moment, Amy tripped over a root and fell, causing herself to drop the communicator. Seeing as Lexi couldn't see, she tumbled down after Amy, practically and accidentally, throwing her communicator a small distance to where she wouldn't be able to reach it.

"Ow! What happened Amy? What did you do?" Lexi asked sitting up.

"I think I tripped over a root or something. Where's the communicator? I can't find the communicator!" She felt about in the dirt but couldn't find it. Lexi couldn't seem to locate hers either.

Angels started to surround them, getting closer and closer...

"Doctor, we can't find the communicators! We dropped them! We can't find them!... Doctor!" Lexi was practically yelling. Amy stood up quickly and grabbed Lexi's arm to make her stand up. It was amazing that they were doing all of this with their eyes closed.

What they didn't see was that the Angels surrounding them were getting closer and closer. They turned around hearing something moving. An Angel was practically face-to-face with them, reaching for them. It was just inches away from their throats, when all of a sudden they were engulfed in a bright light.

_Byzantium, Primary Flight Deck_...

Amy and Lexi appeared on the flight deck on either side of River. She held onto each of them tightly, having to support both of them while The Doctor worked on the console in the room.

"Don't open your eyes. You're both on the Flight Deck, The Doctor's here. I teleported you both" River looked towards The Doctor. "See? Told you I could get it working."

"River Song, I could bloody kiss you."

"Ah well, I don't know..." An alarm bell started blaring. "What's that?"

"The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power, which means... the shield's going to release!"

The shield to the forest opened and they were confronted by a large number of Angels. The Doctor stepped forward.

"Angel Bob, I presume."

"The Time Field is coming. It will destroy our reality."

"Yeah, and look at you, all running away. What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw yourself into it, it will close and they will be saved."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could do, could do that. But why?"

"Your friends would also be saved."

"Well, there is that."

River took Amy and Lexi and let them lean against the console for support. She then walked quickly over to The Doctor. "I've travelled in time. I'm a complicated space time/event, too. Throw me in."

"Oh be serious! Compared to me, these Angels are more complicated than you and it would take every single one of them to amount to me, so get a grip."

"Doctor, I can't let you do this."

"No, serious, get a grip."

"You're not gonna die here!"

"No, I mean it. River, Amy, Lexi, get a grip."

A look of realization spread across River's face. "Oh, you genius! " She went back to Lexi and Amy.

"Sir, the Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now." Angel Bob said a bit too insistently.

"Thing is, Bob, the Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what? I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the gravity of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels..."

River quickly led Amy and Lexi over to a panel. "You both hold on and don't you let go for anything." She placed their hands on a handle attached to the panel before gripping one herself.

"Night-night." " the Doctor finished. As the gravity failed due to the loss of power, The Doctor casually turned to grip a handle himself. The deck turned to its side and The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and River hung on for dear life as the Angels were sucked into the crack. There was a burst of light and the crack in the secondary flight deck closed.


	16. Flesh and Stone: Part 4

_Beach, Dawn_...

Amy was leaning on a rock, wrapped in a blanket. The Doctor was standing next to her with a cleric behind them. Lexi and River were standing a little distance away talking to where no one could really hear them.

"So River, who are you?" Lexi asked not even looking directly at her. She was sort just glancing over at Amy and The Doctor, seeing them chatting about something.

"Spoilers."

"Really?" Lexi asked a tiny bit sarcastically.

River chuckled. "Oh, Lexi. This is only the beginning for all of you."

"What do you mean?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Lexi raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in subject. "Sure?"

"Do you like The Doctor?"

Lexi whipped her head around to look directly at River. "What?!"

"Oh, come on. I've seen the way you look at him. Steeling little glances at him when he's not looking. You may not think anyone was watching, but I have been the whole time."

"Are you serious?... Okay, maybe a little, but it's nothing, really." Lexi said defensively.

"If you say so. But hey, I do have something I need to tell you."

"Okay, what is it."

"Now, before I tell you, I need you to promise me you won't tell The Doctor."

"Woah, why can't I tell The Doctor?"

"Because this is something that you and only you can do."

"Fine. What?"

"Alright, I'm going to try not to give to much away here... So, as you know, me and The Doctor's timelines lines sort of move in opposite directions. Well, something happens in the future. Not necessarily bad, but something does happen. Well, it's already happened for me, but it's not yet happened for any of you. Anyway, the thing that happened, shouldn't have happened, or at least not in the way that it did. I need you to change it. Time can be rewritten, you know."

"Wait, your telling me that you want me to change your past, which is everyone else's future because the thing that you're saying happened, shouldn't have happened."

"No. The thing that happened shouldn't have happened the way that it happened."

"Okay..."

"I know this sounds weird, but you are the only person that is capable of doing this for me."

"River, this does sound insane."

"Yes. But-"

"Fine. I'll do it. I might not be entirely happy about having to keep a secret, but if this is as important as you say it is,... then I don't want to mess anything up. But, I do have one more question. How will I know what to change and when to change it?"

"Oh, trust me. You'll know."

Lexi then glanced back over to see The Doctor walking towards them.

"Hello. How are you feeling, Lexi?" The Doctor asked seeing if Lexi still felt any after effects of the recent events.

"A bit sore, but otherwise alright." She said with a smile before walking over to the rock where her sister was, leaving The Doctor with River.

"You... Me... handcuffs." River said with a smile holding out her hands encased in cuffs. "Must it always end this way?"

"What now?" The Doctor asked.

"The prison ship's in orbit. They'll beam me up any second. I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see."

"Octavian said you killed a man."

"Yes. I did. A good man. A very good man. The best man I've ever known."

"Who?"

"It's a long story, Doctor, can't be told. It has to be lived. No sneak previews... Well, except for this one: you'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens."

"The Pandorica, ha!" The Doctor turned to face River and bent down to whisper in her ear. "That's a fairy tale."

River laughed at that. "Oh, Doctor, aren't we all? I'll see you there."

"I look forward to it."

"I remember it well."

The Doctor chuckled and just walked away. Amy and Lexi walked up to River.

"Bye, River." They both said.

"See you. Amy. Lexi." River's handcuffs beeped. "Oh! I think that's my ride."

"Can I trust you, River Song?" The Doctor asked from where he was standing.

"If you like, but where's the fun in that?" She laughed again and was teleported away.

The Doctor turned around and looked out at the ocean. The twins walked over to him.

"What are you thinking?" Amy asked seeing The Doctor expression.

"Time can be rewritten." That was all he replied. Lexi kind of was surprised at that. She didn't let it show though. She didn't want any questions raised about what her and River talked about.

_Inside the TARDIS_...

The Doctor was at the console while Amy sat on the jump seat. Lexi was leaning on the railing next to where Amy was. Amy had her arms crossed.

"I want to go home." Amy said out of nowhere. Lexi looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Ok." The Doctor said quietly.

Amy smiled and went and joined him leaving Lexi at the railing. "No, not like that! I just... I just want to show you something." Lexi smiled in realization at what her sister was saying and went up next to them. "You're running from River. We're running too." Amy made a quick side glance at Lexi.

_Amy and Lexi's house_...

Lexi was downstairs looking at the flower arrangements in the kitchen. It was amazing that none of them were dead yet. The Doctor did say that they had only been gone like five minutes, even though it felt much longer. She walked around the table to straighten out a ribbon before walking out of the kitchen and back up the stairs to her and Amy's room.

She was about to open the bedroom door, but heard Amy and The Doctor talking. She gently put her ear against the door.

"Thanks. So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?"

"Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark with Lexi and we nearly died. And it made me think."

"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times..."

"About what I want. About who I want. You know what I mean?"

Lexi kind of sniggered to herself. She knew that Amy couldn't possibly be serious.

"Yeah... No."

"About who... I want."

"Oh, right, yeah... No, still not getting it."

Lexi rolled her eyes, The Doctor really could be a bit clueless sometimes. This was getting interesting. She listened against the door a little bit more.

"Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand..."

Lexi could hear The Doctor clamber over the bed's foot rail to try and get away from Amy.

"Uh...! You're getting married in the morning!"

"The morning's a long time away." Amy could be heard pushing The Doctor against the TARDIS. "What are we going to do about that?"

"Listen to me. I'm 907 years old. Do you understand what that means?"

Lexi's eyes widened. 907? That was one hell of an age gap.

"It's been awhile?"

"No, no, no! I'm 907, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older. I don't, and this can't ever work."

"Oh you are sweet, Doctor. But I wasn't really suggesting anything quite so... long term."

Lexi could hear them start to kiss and she thought that this probably a good time to intervene. So she walked in.

The Doctor and Amy quickly looked over at Lexi in surprise.

"Lexi, this is not what it looks like." The Doctor said quickly pushing Amy away and almost making her fall over her bed's foot railing.

Lexi just smile and raised her eyebrows looking back and forth at The Doctor and Amy. "Is it?"

"Really. It isn't." Amy said walking over to the side of her bed. She laid down on the bed seductively on her side.

"Mmm, well don't you think your gonna have all the fun." Lexi said smiling at her sister before quickly turning to The Doctor and grabbing him by the suspenders and kissing him deeply. For a second it was as almost if The Doctor wasn't pulling away.

'_What are you doing, Doctor?! Stop!_' The Doctor thought to himself. He grabbed Lexi by the shoulders and pushed her to arms' length. Lexi just grinned madly at him waggling her eyebrows.

"Lexi and Amy Pond... Mad, impossible Pond twins. I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the universe is that I get you sorted out right now."

Lexi smiled sweetly and pushed The Doctor's hands off her shoulders. "That's what Amy's been trying to tell you."

The Doctor went over and pulled Amy off the bed. "Come on!"

Lexi just stood by and watched.

Amy was being flirty again. "Doctor!"

The Doctor pushed her into the TARDIS. Lexi walked back around to the front of him and was about to step into the TARDIS before he stopped her.

"Hang on a second. Really quick... A while ago, Amy said I was running from River, and she may be right on that. I can also understand running away from her own wedding, but what about you? Why are you running?"

Lexi chuckled. "Oh, Doctor... Haven't you figured that out by now?"

That was all she said before walking into the TARDIS and leaving a confused Doctor alone. He was about to walk into the TARDIS himself, but quickly turned to look at Amy and Lexi's clock that was on the nightstand between their beds. It changed from '11:59 6/25' to '12:00 6/26'.

He remembered when he and River were in the forest of the Byzantium when the communicator showed the date of the origin of the crack.

"_...And for those of us who can't read the base code of the universe?"_

_"Amy and Lexi's time!_"

**A/N: I really do enjoy writing this. Also, before I get any questions, yes I know the thing about River asking Lexi to change time is not really what you'd expect. If Lexi changes whatever she's supposed to change, then it would eliminate the need for River to tell her to change it. Therefore... rewriting time. :) Next chapter shall be _The Vampires of Venice_**!


	17. The Vampires of Venice: Part 1

The Pond Twins

Chapter 17: The Vampires of Venice

**A/N: Hey! I'm so happy to see people reviewing, favoriting and following this story. It really means a lot to know that people are enjoying it! :) **

**Here's the url for Lexi's outfit.**

pin/297800594080032344/

**Please let me know what you think of Lexi's wardrobe.**

The Doctor was in a harness seat in the space underneath the TARDIS console doing some welding work. Lexi was still in her room changing. Amy was pacing nervously above. Rory was up there too. They had went and picked him up from his stag night. Well, it was more or so The Doctor popping out of a giant cake instead of a stripper...

"Oh! The life out there, it dazzles. I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important. I've seen it devour relationships and plans..." The Doctor went on. Rory looked down nervously as the TARDIS experienced a small explosion. "Ohhh! It's meant to do that." The Doctor resumed. "...because for one person to have seen all that, to taste the glory and then to go back, it WILL tear you apart. So... Me and Lexi are sending you somewhere. Together." The Doctor and Lexi thought it'd be nice if Amy and Rory had a date. It was Lexi that had quickly mentioned it to The Doctor before he went and got Rory.

"Whoa! What, like a date?" Amy asked skeptically.

"Anywhere you want, anytime you want." The Doctor started to walk up the steps to join them.

"One condition - it has to be amazing." Lexi interjected out of nowhere. She was walking down another set of stairs. She had just changed into some blue jean shorts with a loose pink/peach colored shirt over a white tank-top and grey converse. Amy and Rory quickly turned their heads to look at her as The Doctor arrived a the top of the other stairs. "Are you gonna stare at my legs all day Doctor?" Lexi asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow. The Doctor eyes had lingered on her for longer than he'd probably intended, but this was the first time Lexi had decided to show off her long legs in front of him.

"... Right, uh..." The Doctor was scrambling for any words that would come out. Lexi jumped down off of the last step. Amy tried not to laugh and Rory was busy looking all around at the vast size of the room, too busy to give anyone notice. "Er... Yes. Somewhere amazing, that's right. The Moulin Rouge in 1890! The first Olympic Games! Think of it as a wedding present, because, frankly, it's either this or tokens."

Lexi walked over to Rory seeing his stunned expression and put an arm around him. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" She said glancing around at the room herself.

"Haha, yes!" The Doctor exclaimed excitedly as he headed up a set of stairs. "Tiny box, huge room inside. What's that about? Let me explain."

"It's another dimension." Rory said flatly. Lexi took her arm off of him to go and stand by Amy.

The Doctor headed back down the stairs. "It's basically another dimen... What?" The Doctor asked surprised.

"After Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories; FTL travel, parallel universes." Rory explained as The Doctor came right up to his face.

"I like the bit when someone says, '_It's bigger on the inside!_' I always look forward to that."

The twins cleared their throats to get the guys' attention.

"So, this date. I'm kind of done with running down corridors." Amy explained while circling the console. "What do you think, Rory?"

The Doctor went over to where Lexi was standing and gave her a knowing look that said he knew exactly where they should take them.

"How about somewhere... romantic?" The Doctor set the TARDIS in motion. Everyone grabbed onto the console tightly. Where were they going?

_Venice, Day, Marketplace_...

The TARDIS materialized in the middle of a busy market, but no one took any notice. The Doctor stepped out first with his arms spread wide.

"Venice! Venezia! La Serenissima! Impossible city. Preposterous city!" Lexi, Amy and Rory looked about in amazement as The Doctor led them around the marketplace. "Founded by refugees running from Attila the Hun. It was just a collection of little wooden huts in the marsh, but became one of the most powerful cities in the world. Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding... constantly… Just beautiful! Oh, you gotta love Venice. And so many people did. Byron, Napoleon, Casanova. Oooh, that reminds me." The Doctor checked his watch. "1580. That's alright. Casanova doesn't get born for 145 years. Don't want to run into him. I owe him a chicken." That comment earned a chuckle from Lexi and Amy, but a confused look from Rory.

"You owe Casanova chicken?" Rory asked like it was the oddest thing ever.

"Long story. We had a bet."

An official dressed in black stepped out in front of The Doctor.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Papers, if you please. Proof of residency, current bill medical inspection."

The Doctor held up the psychic paper. "There you go, fella." The official took the paper from The Doctor to inspect it. "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find."

The official bowed deeply. "I am so sorry, Your Holiness. I didn't realize."

The Doctor took back the paper. "No worries. You were just doing your job. Sorry, what exactly is your job?"

"Checking for aliens," That earned a surprised look from Rory and suppressed laughter from the twins. "...visitors from foreign lands what might bring the plague with them."

"Oh, that's nice. See where you bring us?" The twins said together slapping The Doctor on either arm. "The plague!"

"Don't worry, Duchess, Viscountess." The official bowed to Lexi and then Amy respectively. They both sighed just going along with it. "No, we're under quarantine here, no one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri."

"How interesting. I heard the plague died out years ago." The Doctor said curiously.

"No out there. No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. Streets are piled high with bodies, she said."

"Did she, now?" The Doctor and Lexi asked at the same time, causing them to look at each other. They smiled excitedly.

Rory reached for the psychic paper as the official went off to go and question someone else. The Doctor, Lexi and Amy continued on.

"According to this, I am your eunuch!" Rory exclaimed causing Amy to turn around to reply quickly.

"Oh, yeah, I'll explain later."

_Outside the Calvierri School, Day_...

The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and Rory saw that a lot of people were gathering at the balcony to watch something going on across the canal. They saw an empty archway of the balcony and went ahead and grabbed it before anyone else would. Amy stood by Rory, and Lexi by The Doctor.

It seemed that girls from the school were lined up in a procession. Maybe it was a daily ritual or something. Lexi thought it was odd that all the girls had veils on. That thought was quickly replaced by some sort of commotion going on across the canal. There seemed to be a man across the canal, running from girl to girl lifting up their veils.

_Maybe he was looking for someone_.

"Isabella?!" The man seemed to be saying. A daughter maybe.

Then, one of the girls went forward and hissed at him. Lexi had pretty good eyesight, but was she really seeing fangs? The man seemed to fall to the ground. Lexi looked over to The Doctor, who was staring at the scene intently.

"What was that about about?" Amy asked. Lexi was about to comment, but felt The Doctor grab her hand and pull her away with him.

Amy looked to see why no one answered. "I hate it when he does that!"

_Narrow passage_...

The Doctor and Lexi were following the man who kept shouting Isabella. They found him walking along a passageway. They crossed behind him and leapt up onto the bottom step of a stairway.

"Who were those girls?" The Doctor asked first. The man stopped to look at The Doctor.

"I though everyone knew about the Calvierri school."

"It's our first day here." Lexi commented stepping off the step followed by The Doctor.

"Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools. They move house, they change religion." The Doctor then whispered. "So, why are you trying to get her out?"

"Something happens in there. Something magical, something evil. My own daughter didn't recognize me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face… like an animal."

"I think it's time we met this Signora Calvierri." Lexi turned her head to look at The Doctor. "Don't you, Doctor?" The Doctor looked at her with an excited grin.

_Another narrow passage_...

Amy and Rory were walking through a narrow passage.

"And what have you been doing?" Rory asked Amy.

"Well... running. And fighting. I've been scared. Lexi's been scared. We've been more scared than I thought was..."

"Did you miss me?"

"I... I knew I'd be coming back."

"He was right. It blocks out everything else. And one more thing, does he have a thing for Lexi or something?"

"Rory... this is our date. Let's not do this, not now. And to answer your question, maybe. I'm not sure."

There what is a fluttering of wings overhead and Rory looked up.

"Ha! We are in Venice and it's 1580!"

Amy laughed joyously. "I know!"

They both laughed as they walked off, arm-in-arm.

_Outside the Calvierri school_...

The man, who The Doctor and Lexi figured out was named Guido, was distracting the guards while they snuck along the side to the gate. Lexi wasn't so keen on being so close to possibly falling in the water, but The Doctor kept hold of her hand until they made it to the gate. He then pulled out the sonic and used it on the canal gate lock. Once they were inside, Guido left.

_Inside the Calvierri school_...

The Doctor and Lexi made their way down some steps and into a chamber. The Doctor spied a mirror on one wall. The Doctor walked up to it and began to check himself out.

"Hello, handsome." The Doctor straightened his bow tie and checked his teeth.

"Oh, come on. Don't be so full of yourself." Lexi said jokingly while looking in the mirror and messing with her hair.

"Oi! You're one to talk!" The Doctor exclaimed in mock hurt. Lexi shook her head and gave a lighthearted laugh.

"Who are you?" A group of girl voices asked from nowhere, causing The Doctor and Lexi to spin around quickly. Lexi turned and looked in the mirror and didn't see the girls, then turned back and titled her head in confusion. The Doctor looked back in forth from the mirror to the girls repeatedly a few times.

"How are you doing that? I... am... loving it." The Doctor said joyously. "You like Houdini, only five scary girls, only he was shorter. WILL BE shorter."

"Doctor, you're rambling." Lexi said making The Doctor stop.

"I'll ask you again, signor and signora. Who are you?"

"Why don't you check THIS out?" The Doctor held out a wallet that showed an ID with a photo of his first incarnation. "Library card." He put it away. "Of course, it's with... He's... I need the spare."

Lexi stepped forward and walked in front of the girls looking at them closely, as if studying them intently. One of them would hiss at her causing her to stepped back a little bit. She never looked away from them though. What were they? "Hmm. Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen in..." She turned her head and looked in the mirror. "Doctor, am I thinking what I think I'm thinking?" Lexi asked with an excited grin. The Doctor looked at her for a second and his expression changed to one of complete giddiness.

"I think you might." The Doctor stepped forward to stand right next to Lexi. "But the city. Why shut down the city? Unless..."

"Both of you, leave now, or we shall call for the steward... if you're lucky."

"Ooh!" The Doctor seemed to say.

The girls hissed and bore their fangs as they advanced on The Doctor and Lexi. Lexi grabbed The Doctor's hand and dragged him along to the doorway. He turned around just out of sheer curiosity.

"Tell me the whole plan. 'That one may not work.'"

"Doctor, come on!" Lexi exclaimed tugging on his arm.

"Listen, I would love to stay here. This whole thing… I'm thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!" He turned around gripping Lexi's hand and they both ran up the stairs as the girls hissed after them.

_Outside the Calvierri school, Night_...

The Doctor and Lexi met up across the canal from the school with Amy.

"Doctor! Lexi!" Amy exclaimed excitedly.

"We just met some vampires!" The Doctor and Lexi just as excitedly.

"We just saw a vampire!"

They all talked at once, voices overlapping.

"And creepy girls and everything."

"Vampires!"

They all jumped up and down together excitedly as Rory joined them.

"We think we just saw a vampire."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Amy was just telling us." The Doctor explained.

"Yeah! The Doctor and Lexi actually went to their house." Amy said informing Rory.

"Oh, Right. Well..."

"OK, so..." The Doctor slapped his hands on Rory's cheeks. "first we need to get back in there somehow."

"What?!" Rory asked shocked.

"How do we do that?"

"Back in where?!"

"Come and meet our new friend." Lexi said continuing on.


	18. The Vampires of Venice: Part 2

_Guido's house_...

Guido had brought out a map of Venice. The Doctor, Lexi and Amy we're at the table looking it over with him as Rory sat back among some barrels.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in. The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house. I tried to get in once myself, but I hit a trapdoor."

"You need someone on the inside." Amy said knowingly.

"No." The Doctor immediately said.

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"We pretend you're an application for the school to get you inside and tonight you come down and open the trapdoor to let us in." The Doctor shot back looking at her with a smirk. Lexi sniggered at that.

"Oh. So you do know what I was going to say!"

"Are you insane?" Rory asked from his spot by the barrels.

"We don't have another option."

"Actually, sis, we have two options... Who's it gonna be?" Lexi asked Amy with a raised eyebrow. They did a quick round of rock paper scissors and whoever lost would have to go into the school. Amy lost...

"Ha!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"He said no, Amy. Listen to him."

"There is another option." Guido pointed in Rory's direction. "I work at the arsenal. We build the warships for the Navy."

The Doctor went over and sniffed the barrels. "Gunpowder." He put a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Most people just nick stationery from where they work."

Rory slowly slid off the barrel and backed away into a dead rabbit hanging by the fireplace.

"Look, I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive." The Doctor explained.

"What do you suggest, then? We wait until they turn her into an animal?" Guido turned away and poked the fire that was going in the fireplace.

"I'll be there three, four hours tops." Amy said.

The Doctor gave a small smile at her persistence. "No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go." The doctor sat on the bed, head and hands. He then took a breath and sat back. Lexi then proceeded to sit by him. "But I have to know. We go together. Say you're my daughter."

"What?! Don't listen to him!" Roy said definitively.

"Your daughter? You look about nine."

"Brother, then."

"Too weird. Fiancé"

"I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé" Rory cut in.

"No. No, you're right."

"Thank you."

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor. You should do it."

"Me?"

"Yeah! You can be my brother." Amy rubbed Rory's head playfully.

Over on the bed, The Doctor smiled at their interaction, while Lexi gave a look of confusion.

"Why is him being your brother weird," Lexi gestured to The Doctor. "but with Rory, it's OK?"

"Actually, I thought he was her fiancé" Guido said gesturing to The Doctor.

"Yeah, that's not helping." The Doctor chimed in.

"This whole thing is mental! They're VAMPIRES, for God's sake." Rory said exasperatedly.

"We hope." Lexi mumbling under her breath.

"So if they're not vampires…?" Amy started.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampire?" The Doctor asked spookily.

_Canal, Night_...

The Doctor, Lexi and Rory sat back in a gondola as Guido, dressed in Rory's clothes, guided them along the canal. Rory had taken Amy and they had gotten her into the school. She was going to go down into the house to open the trap door for them so they could get inside.

"She'll be fine.." The Doctor said trying to comfort Rory.

Rory had a very worried expression on his face. Lexi just sat between them staring straight ahead not looking at either of them.

"You can promise me that, can you?" Rory asked frustratedly. Lexi snapped her head to the side to look at Rory.

"What, Rory? Would you rather me have gone inside instead of Amy?"

"Now, that is not what I said." Rory a bit defensively.

"Well calm down, then." Lexi said a bit harshly turning her head back to look straight ahead again. The Doctor just looked at her, wondering where that side of her had come from.

_A little while later_...

The gondola had arrived at its destination.

"We're here." Guido informed.

Carrying a lot torch, The Doctor opened the creaking gate and Lexi and Rory followed. Guido stayed with the gondola.

_Calverri school, Underground stairs_...

"Right. OK. I'll go first. If anything happens to me, go back..."

"What happened? Between you and Amy? You said she kissed you."

The Doctor and Lexi stopped as they were just outside a wooden door. Lexi turned around to speak to Rory, while The Doctor just turned straight back around and continued towards the door.

"Now?! Rory, you want to do this now?!" Lexi asked frustratedly before turning around and going up the wooden steps towards towards the door.

"I have a right to know." Rory followed after them. "I'm getting married in 430 years."

_Calvierri school, Underground passage_...

The Doctor, Lexi and Rory were continuing through a narrow passage, the only light coming from The Doctor's torch.

"She was frightened, I was frightened, but we survived, and the relief of it… and so she kissed me." The Doctor explained to Rory.

"And you kissed your back?"

"No. I kissed her mouth."

"Funny." Rory muttered.

"Rory…" Lexi stopped to look at him. "Rory, she kissed him because he was there. If it makes you feel any better, I kissed him too."

"Ah, now you're kissing both of them, eh?" Rory asked looking over Lexi's shoulder at The Doctor.

The Doctor stepped around Lexi to be right in from of Rory. "She's right you know. It would've been you," He tapped Rory on the chest. "it SHOULD have been you."

"Yeah." Rory said indignantly.

"Exactly. That's why we brought you here."

All of a sudden there was a strong gust of wind that caused the torch to blow out, leaving the trio in the dark.

"Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" Lexi asked in a whisper.

_Calvierri school, Courtyard_...

The Doctor pushed the grate open and climbed out, using Rory as a ladder.

"Push..." The Doctor got out and then helped Lexi, who was being held up by Rory. They both then helped Rory climb out. "There we are." The Doctor started whispering. "Amy! Where's Amy? I can't see a thing." Lexi was just staring around at the whole place.

"Just as well I brought this, then." Rory pulled out a small pencil torch.

The Doctor then proceeded to pull out a long large torch from under his jacket. "Ultraviolet. Portable sunlight."

"Yours is bigger than mine."

"Boys, let's not go there." Lexi said definitely not wanting to hear anymore of that conversation.

The Doctor was going around the courtyard looking at everything.

"If we cancel now, we'll lose the deposit on the village hall, the salsa band…" Rory said sighing.

The Doctor opened a chest on the ground to reveal skeletal remains. Lexi and Rory gasped jumping back a step.

Lexi put a hand over her mouth in shock.

"What happened to them?" Rory asked putting a hand on Lexi's shoulder trying to give any comfort at all.

"They've had all the moisture taken out of them." The Doctor replied sadly.

"That's what vampires do though, right? They drink your blood and replace it with their own."

"Yeah, except they haven't just had their blood taken, but all the water in their entire bodies."

"Why did they die?" Lexi asked with a sniffle. "Why aren't they like the girls in school?"

"Maybe not everyone survives the process."

Rory took his hand off Lexi's shoulder and walked away in frustration and stopped and pointed at the doctor.

"You know what's dangerous about you? It's not that you make people take risks. It's that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don't want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous the make people to themselves when you're around." Lexi went over to Rory and looked him straight in the eye. The Doctor eyed her curiously.

"Look, Rory. As long as me and Amy have been traveling with The Doctor, he has never once let anything hurt us. Sure there have been difficult and frightening times, but we always come out of them alive. That's what's important. We will get her back..."

"Who are you?" Some eerily familiar voices asked from nowhere.

The girls appeared, each from her own archway. The Doctor held the ultraviolet light up to them as they got closer.

"We should run. Run!" The Doctor grabbed Lexi's hand and they, and Rory, all ran from the courtyard followed by the girls.

_Calvierri school, Underground chamber_...

"This is how it works." Signora Calvierri started. "First, we drink you until your dry. Then… we fill you with our blood. It rages through you like a fire, changing you, until one morning you awake and your humanity is a dream… now faded."

"And if I survive?" Amy asked a tiny bit weakly, seeing how they had already drunk a little of her blood. She was restrained in a wooden chair.

"Then there are 10,000 husbands waiting for you in the water."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm kind of engaged." Amy then kicked Signora and then was restrained back by a man known as Francesco.

The Signora was stunned. It was a slight electric hum of technology. The Signora flipped back part of her clothing to reveal a device clipped to her dress. Her image flickered to show an insectoid creature with a fish head. Her human image returned. All of a sudden they heard running footsteps and voices from above. They ran upstairs leaving Amy alone. She struggled to escape the chair.

_Calvierri school, Passageway_...

The Doctor, Lexi and Rory ran along the corridor and stopped when they encountered the Signora, her servant Carlo and Francesco.

"Ah, a twin. How nice it would have been to convert two." The Signora said sinisterly looking right at Lexi.

"Ha! Don't don't even think about." Lexi shot back.

"Cab for Amy Pond?" The Doctor asked trying to be funny.

The girls approached from the end of the corridor, blocking their escape.

"This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?" The Signora asked sarcastically.

The Doctor brandished the light to hold back the girls. "Ha-ha!"

Amy, followed by a girl Lexi assumed to be Isabelle, ran into the corridor from an intersecting hall.

"Rory!" Amy exclaimed happily.

"Amy!"

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella exclaimed running back the way they came followed by Amy, Rory, Lexi and The Doctor. The girls followed.

"Seal the house." The Signora ordered.

_Calvierri school, Underground stairs_...

"They're not vampires!" Amy said excitedly while climbing down the stairs.

The Doctor used the sonic to lock the door. "What?!"

"I saw them, I saw her. They're not vampires. They're aliens!"

Lexi chuckled excitedly at that as she too, climbed down the stairs after Amy.

"Classic!" The Doctor exclaimed happily.

"That's GOOD news?! What is wrong with you people?!"

The Doctor heard the aliens as they began to break through the door and urged Rory forward into a passage.

_Calvierri school, Underground passage_...

"Come on, move!" The Doctor ordered everyone.

Francesco led the way with a torch. The Doctor once again brandished the ultraviolet light as a weapon, causing Francesco to hesitate.

"Keep moving! Come on, guys!"

Francesco sent the girls forward after everyone.

_Calvierri school canal, Morning..._

Isabella opened the doorway and ushered the others forward down the stairs to the canal where Guido was waiting.

"Quickly. Get out. Quick!" She stopped and put up her hands to block her eyes. Almost as if she was in pain.

"Oh..." The Doctor and Lexi both instinctively ran to help Isabella. "Come on, run!"

"I can't!" Isabella was dragged back inside.

The Doctor pounded on the door and spasmed once the door was electrified. Lexi screamed as The Doctor fell on top of her causing both of them to fall to the ground. Lexi hit her head on the railing and was knocked unconscious. Rory and Amy ran to check on them. Rory went to roll The Doctor off of Lexi and checked to see what damage they had.

"They're still breathing." Rory informed. Amy rubbed Lexi's head and glanced up and over at Guido who looked down to the ground, knowing he would never see his daughter again.


	19. The Vampires of Venice: Part 3

_Calvierri school, Throne Room_...

The Doctor had woken up quickly before Lexi did. He helped Rory and Amy get her back Guido's. He decided it was time he paid a proper visit to Signora Calverri. So, he was currently sitting on her throne. As she entered, The Doctor gave her a wolf whistle.

"Long way from Saturnyne, aren't you... Sister of the Water?"

"No, let me guess. The owner of the psychic paper. Then I take it you're a refugee, like me?"

"I'll make a deal. An answer for an answer. You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you. But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank… hence no reflection."

"Your question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?"

"Haha... Self-preservation overrides the mirage. The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain."

"Where's Isabella?"

"My turn... Where are you from?"

"Galifrey."

"You should be in a museum. Or in a mausoleum."

"Why are you here?"

"We ran from the silence. Why are you here?"

"Wedding present. The silence?"

"There were cracks. Some were tiny… Some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people and through others we saw silence… and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours and the crack snapped shut behind us… and Saturnyne was lost."

"So Earth is to become Saturnyne Mark II?"

"And you can help me. We can build a new society here, as others have. What do you say?"

"Hmm." The Doctor stood and walked to face the Signora and whisper. "Where's Isabella?"

"Isabella?"

"The girl who saved my friend."

"Oh, deserters must be executed. Any general will tell you that. I need an answer, Doctor. A partnership. Any which way you choose."

"I don't hink that's such a good idea, do you? I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish. Think of the children."

"Carlo!" Carlo approached. "You're right. We're nothing alike. I will bend the heavens to save my race, while you philosophize."

"This ends today. I'll tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone." Carlo put a hand on The Doctor chest to get him to move, but The Doctor pushed them away. "Take your hands off me, Carlo." The Doctor walked to the door and stopped and glanced back at the Signora. "And you know why? You didn't know Isabella's name." The door opened. "You didn't know Isabella's name." The Doctor then left and the door slammed shut.

_Guido's house_...

The Doctor was examining the bites on Amy's neck with the sonic screwdriver, while Rory was checking Lexi for a concussion.

"You're fine. Open wide." The Doctor slipped a candy into Amy's mouth and then walked over to the other side of her to where Rory and Lexi were.

"How are you?" The Doctor asked putting a hand on Lexi's shoulder.

"Head hurts." That's all she replied while Rory shined his small torch back and forth between her eyes.

"Well, looks like to me you might have a slight concussion, but the worst part should be a bump on your head for next few days. You can lay your head down on the table if you want." Lexi did exactly that. Rory smiled sweetly at her before getting up to go to the other side of the table and sit by Guido.

The Doctor smiled at the diagnosis, fearing that he may have hurt her worse. That smile quickly faded into frustration. He shouted in frustration as started to pace. "I need to think. Come on think, think, think. Think!" The Doctor sat down quickly at the head of the table. "Think!"

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun." Amy said with the candy in her mouth.

"Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush." The Doctor commanded putting a hand over her mouth.

"It's the school thing I don't understand." Rory pointed out.

"Stop talking, brain thinking. Hush." The Doctor put his other hand over Rory's mouth.

"I say we take the fight to them." Guido insisted.

"Ah-Ah-Ah!"

"What?"

"Ah!" The Doctor nodded at Rory who then placed a hand over Guido's mouth. "Her planets dies, so they flee through a crack in space and time, and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, changes the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool. Got it. Then what? They come from the sea, they can't survive forever on land, so what's she going to do?... Unless she's going to do something to the environment to make the city habitable… She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race.'" The Doctor moved his hands away from their mouths to their heads, forcing them to nod. "Bend the heavens... Bend... the heavens..."

"Wait." Lexi said picking up her head to look at them. "If she said she'd 'bend the heavens,' it sounds... like she wants to sink Venice."

"She's... she's going to sink Venice?" Guido asked glancing at Lexi and The Doctor.

"And repopulate with the girls she's transformed." The Doctor said with realization in his voice.

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women. You need… blokes." Rory said stating the obvious.

"She's got blokes." Amy realized.

"Where?" The Doctor asked curiously.

"In the canal. She said to me, 'There are 10,000 husbands waiting in the water.'"

"Only the male offspring survive the journey here. She's got 10,000 children swimming in the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends. Ew. I mean, I've been around a bit, but, really, that's... that's... Ew."

They suddenly heard a loud clattering from the floor above. This made everyone look up at the ceiling.

"The people upstairs are very noisy."

"There aren't any people upstairs." Guido pointed out.

"I knew you were going to say that. Did anyone else know he was going to say that?" The Doctor asked a tiny bit panicked.

Wood then creaked as if someone was walking across the floor.

"Is it the vampires?" Rory asked looking up.

"Like I said, they're not vampires. Fish from space."

There was a loud thump and breaking glass as the converted girls entered the room. There were more outside the window. Everyone stood quickly, startled. Lexi probably stood a bit to quickly cos she grabbed onto the table to steady herself. The Doctor brandished the ultraviolet light as Guido crossed himself.

"Aren't we on the second floor?" Rory asked.

The girls at the windows then broke the glass and The Doctor used the light to keep them back. He then used the sonic screwdriver on them, which showed their true selves.

"What's happened to them?" Guido asked shocked.

"There's nothing left of them. They've been fully converted. Blimey, fish from space have never been so… buxom. OK..." The Doctor switched off the screwdriver. "Move. Come on."

Everyone quickly ran out of the room. Rory grabbed onto Lexi's shoulders while she was going down the stairs so she wouldn't fall with dizziness.

_Outside of Guido's house_...

The Doctor was the last to get out of the house before Guido grabbed the light from him and used it on the girls. Guido was about to come out of the house before he just stopped at the door and closed it, locking The Doctor out.

"Stay away from the door, Doctor." Guido's voice said from the other side of the door.

"No! Guido! What are you doing?!... I'm not leaving you! What are you doing?!" The Doctor tried to use the sonic on the door, but it didn't work. "Guido!" The Doctor had a sudden moment of realization of what Guido was planning. He started to run as quickly as he could. He was thrown to the ground as the house exploded.

He got up and walked over to where Lexi, Amy and Rory stood. They looked at the damage. They all heard people clamoring in the streets as the sky got cloudier and cloudier.

"Rosanna's initiating the final faze." The Doctor said glancing up Amy and Rory the sky.

"We need to stop her. Come on!" Amy insisted.

"No, no. Get back to the TARDIS."

"You can't stop her on your own."

"We don't discuss this! I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it. Huh?" The Doctor shouted back loudly, causing Lexi to cringe because of her headache. Amy stormed off in frustration.

Rory put a shoulder around Lexi so could lean on him for support.

"Oh! Lexi, I am so sorry." The Doctor softly said.

"Thank you." Rory said gratefully, leading Lexi away to go after Amy.

"Yeah... You're welcome." The Doctor muttered. He then heard screaming and then ran off to go investigate.

_Venice, Day_...

Amy, Rory and Lexi made their way through the streets and soon were block by Francesco.

"Hey, my head is feeling better. So,... sorry." Lexi whispered quickly in Rory's ear before running off. She needed to get to The Doctor.

"Lexi!... Ugh!" Rory yelled before picking up some candlesticks and holding up in the form of a cross.

"Amy, run!" Francesco just swiped the candlesticks away and moved towards Amy. "This way, you freak! Don't! This... this... this way, you big, stupid, great... SoongeBob! The only thing I've seen uglier than you is... your mum!" Ooh, that struck a cord. "No..."

Francesco turned to confront Rory.

"Did you just say something about Mummy?"

Rory picked up a broom and brandished it like a sword. Francesco pulled out a real sword, making Rory question his bravado. Francesco attacked Rory who blocked with the broom handle.

"Careful! Hit him! This way, bring him this way! Rory!" Amy yelled, motioning to go to the next courtyard.

Francesco sliced the broom handle, leaving Rory defenseless. Francesco thrusted his sword through a hanging drape, but Rory dodged out of the way. He then wrapped Francesco in the drape then backed away.

"Ew! You stink of fish." Rory backed away into the next courtyard. Francesco started following him.

"Well, I'm hardly going to smell of cheese and biscuits."

Rory tripped and fell backward onto the ground, hitting his head. Francesco leaped, changing form in midair, and landed on top of Rory.

"Hey!" Amy yelled from her spot on the stairs. "Mummy's boy." She held up a compact mirror and Francesco exploded in the reflected sunlight.

Rory wiped off the dust for himself. "Ohhh... Oh..."

"That was lucky." Amy said nonchalantly closing the compact. "Why did you make the sign of the cross, you numpty?"

Rory walked to Amy on the stairs. "Oh, oh, right! I'm being reviewed now, am I?" Amy stopped Rory by kissing him passionately.

"Now we go help The Doctor and Lexi."

"Rightio." Rory said stunned.

_Calverri school, Bell Tower_...

The Doctor looked out from the balcony down onto the city below.

"Hey." Lexi said chipperly, popping up right next to The Doctor startling him.

"I thought I told you to go back to the TARDIS!"

"Oh, you did? I chose not to hear that." Lexi said with a smirk.

"Oh... you. Come on!" The Doctor exclaimed grabbing Lexi's hand and heading back inside as the bell tolled.

_Calverri school... Throne room_...

The Doctor and Lexi entered from the main door as Amy and Rory entered from the side.

"Oh, come on! Does anyone listen to me? Ever?!"

"We're not leaving you." Rory pointed out.

"Right," The Doctor walked up to Amy and Rory dragging Lexi along with him. "so one minute it's, 'You make people a danger to themselves,' the next it's, ' We're not leaving you!' But if one of you gets squashed or blown up or eaten, who gets..." The Doctor was cut off by the ground shaking, causing him to let go of Lexi's hand and some pieces of the ceiling to fall down. Everyone fell to the ground.

"What was that?" Lex asked frantically.

"Nothing." The Doctor stood up and helped Lexi get up. "Bit of an earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Amy asked skeptically.

"Manipulate the elements, it can trigger earthquakes. But don't worry about them."

"No?" Rory asked surprised.

"No. Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake." The Doctor turned to face the throne. "Right, Rosanna's throne is the control hub but she's locked the program, so tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne. Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything." The Doctor headed for the throne and began to check the wires. "We need it to shut down and re-route to the secondary hub, which I'm guessing will also be the generator." The Doctor then ran out of the room and up to the bell tower, leaving Lexi, Amy and Rory to pull the wires.

They all started to pull out as many wires as they could, causing sparks. They all then ran out to the courtyard.

_Calverri school, Main gate_...

Amy, Lexi and Rory looked up.

"There he is!" Rory said as spotted The Doctor.

They saw him climbing to the top of the bell tower using a cable. He then reached the giant sphere at the pinnacle.

"Come on!" Lexi shouted supportively.

They saw The Doctor open the sphere. He looked as though he just flipped a switch. The rain then suddenly stopped and the clouds cleared. Bird started chirping.

He then closed the sphere and looked down at the street and gave a little wave.

"You did it!" Amy shouted.

_Venice, Marketplace_...

All the townsfolk were cleaning up after the storm. The Doctor, Lexi, Amy and Rory were all heading back to the TARDIS.

"Now, then, what about you two, eh? Next stop Leadworth Register Office? Maybe I can give you away." The Doctor said lightheartedly causing Lexi to laugh. They all stopped in front of the TARDIS.

"It's fine. Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've..." Rory started to say.

"Stay... with us. Just for a bit. I want you to stay." Amy said sweetly looking at Rory and then at The Doctor.

"Fine with me." He replied. Lexi smiled happily. She loved Rory like a big brother.

"Yeah? Yes, I would like that."

"Yay! Good, now one thing." Lexi said before turning to The Doctor and kissing him quickly out of happiness that he had saved Venice. "That is for saving the city." The Doctor looked at her in stunned surprise, not sure how to respond.

"Nice one." Amy laughed and then kissed Rory. "I will pop the kettle on." Amy unlocked the TARDIS door. "Hey Lexi, look at this. Got our spaceship, got our boys. Our believe our work here is done." Lexi giggle at Amy and followed her into the TARDIS closing the door behind them.

Rory scoffed at that and looked at The Doctor. "We are not their boys."

The Doctor clapped a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Yeah, we are."

"Yeah, we are."

The Doctor opened the door. He and Rory were about to go in, but The Doctor stopped in the open door and pulled Rory out. "Rory, listen to that."

"What? All I can hear is... silence." Rory then went inside.

The Doctor stood there looking out, the Signora's words playing in his head.

"_There were cracks. Through some we saw silence and the end of all things._"

The Doctor then went ahead inside and closed the TARDIS door.

**A/N: As alway, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	20. The Thank You Kiss

The Pond Twins

Chapter 20: The Thank You Kiss

**A/N: This is just a filler chapter that I thought would be good to write. :) Enjoy!**

Lexi was walking back to her room after having a cup of tea that Amy had made. She was going through the events of that day in her head.

_1. They had gone to Venice, in 1580! _

_2. They had met vampire/fish people. _

_3. The Doctor had saved the city from immanent destruction. _

_4. She had kissed The Doctor._

_5. She enjoyed kissing The Doctor._

_6. She enjoyed thinking about kissing The Doctor._

_7. She needed to stop thinking about kissing The Doctor_.

Lexi had a sneaky suspicion that Amy was aware of her feelings. Rory probably was too. I mean, she had kissed him in front of them.

All these thoughts were running through her head when she felt someone grab her from behind and spin her around.

"Hey." The Doctor said softly.

"Hey." Lexi replied.

"How's your head?"

"It's fine, really." Lexi said reaching up and touching the back of her head and feeling the small bump that had formed there.

"I really am sorry, you know?"

"Doctor, it's no big deal. It's not like it was your fault anyway."

"I know, it's just... I can't stand when people I care about get hurt."

"Aw, you care about me?" Lexi asked brightly.

"Ha, of course I do. And there's something I need to thank you for. Although, it's more like two, somethings."

Before Lexi could respond The Doctor pulled her in, cupping her face and giving her a sweet delicate kiss on the lips. Nothing dirty or anything. It was sweet and simple, but at the same time filled with sweet, sweet bliss. As if everything else around them stopped. The Doctor pulled away and looked at Lexi with a shy grin.

"Well... That was... I'd liked to be thanked like that more often." Lexi smiled back at him.

The Doctor laughed lightly. "In due time, but there's something that I want to show you." The Doctor took Lexi by the hand and led her along a few corridors. Where was he taking her?

They came up to a big pair of double wooden doors.

"What's this?" Lexi asked as she eyed the doors curiously.

"The library!" The Doctor said happily pushing the doors open.

Lexi walked in stunned to see such a big room. It shouldn't surprise her so much seeing how big the TARDIS actually was. But this was different. Lexi lived books and reading and writing.

The room seemed to go on forever. It was a tall room with multiple floors, no doubt containing many genres of books from Earth and elsewhere. There was a big mahogany spiral staircase in the middle of the grand room. On the left side of the ground floor, there was an intimate sitting area with a cute little French fireplace. Lexi couldn't believe she hadn't found this room already.

"Wow..." Lexi looked around in amazement. "How big is this place?"

"Oh, enormous. Amy told me that you love books and writing and things of that sort. So I figured, you might want to know about this place. You can come here whenever you want. It's a nice place to come when one needs some... peace." The Doctor explained sitting down in a nearby armchair.

"Haha!" Lexi shouted in giddiness running up a few of the mahogany steps. "This is amazing!... Now..." Lexi ran quickly to stand in front of The Doctor. "Where to now?"

"Haha, yeah!" The Doctor laughed happily, grabbed Lexi's hand and ran out of the room.

**A/N: Just a little bit of nonsense. Next chapter shall be ****_Amy and Lexi's Choice_****!**


End file.
